Young Bloodlines
by Blue Eyes Arch Angel
Summary: Cadmus have been testing four new test subjects they kidnapped from around the world, empowering them with new abilities. It's a race for the The Seasons, The Renegades and the Young Justice team to find and capture these subjects for their own purposes!
1. Chapter 1 The Test Subjects

**Just to note, I do not own the characters (except Riley Jones)**

**Stryke, LyKaon and Death Breath belong to Fightingchance, Spawn Of Hades and RobinXZatanna respectively**

The halls of the laboratory were quiet, aside from the shuffles and muffled conversations between the few scientists in the vicinity. It wasn't a particularly inviting place; The walls were painted a pure white, though overtime the paint had started to flake away from the walls. For some strange reason there were various ink mark trailing down the walls to the floor, of which was just simple but tough tiling. Even though it was supposedly tough there seemed to long, deep scratch marks that led up to a certain room. Various doors some opened, some closed and some locked lined the hallways. Most of them had no markings or nameplates either though the scientists seemed to know where they were going anyway. The whole atmosphere of the place was eerie.

This was noticed by Professor Stevens as she was led down the hallway by the greying man she followed. Impatience getting to her, she fiddled with buttons on her already shabby lab coat until she decided to pipe up and ask (rather sceptically) "So…when do I get to see these so called 'Superhumans' ". The man in front had now stopped; quite conveniently outside a door "You can see one now if you wish" he states hoarsely, his voice reflecting what the grey hair and wrinkles showed. Professor Stevens nodded with slight enthusiasm. Dr Alan took this as a sign of agreement and carefully opened the white door.

This certain door led to a small, rather cramped grey room. Several technical control panels were laid out around the edges of the room, except for one wall where a large glass panel had been purposely built in. Both Professor Stevens and Dr Alan walked towards the glass panel. Through it there was a clear view of a young woman in quite a large but isolated room. She looked to be about 17 years old, but stand too much of a height though her thin waist meant she also didn't weigh as much either. Her strawberry blonde hair fell over her brown eyes which at the moment held a serious but slightly scared expression. Her current outfit seemed to consist of a simple white t-shirt and shorts though in the corner a pair of black running shorts, a tight red running tank top, grey and pink running shoes and some tight grey running arm socks were piled in a small heap. Dr Alan then suddenly spoke up "Experiment 005, better known here as Stryke or Lafayette Ray. We took her off a street somewhere in the US. She had been running from something but we're not sure what"

Dr Alan coughed loudly then nodded to a scientist on one of the control panels. The man nodded back and pressed a button, which created a rather dangerous and near physical hologram in the room with Stryke. Professor Stevens became confused "so what are you doing?" she asked with curiosity. "Training her" was the answer. "We used her for bone growth experiments and she is now able to extract a large and very sharp bone from two flaps of skin in her wrists" Dr Alan explained. As if on cue, Stryke extracted said bones from her wrists, pain becoming eminent on her face from doing so and lunged forwards at the hologram with anger, but then slowly backed away. Professor Stevens felt a tug on her arm "let's go, I have others to show you".

The two scientists left the room at that moment. Dr Alan then guided his guest to another room, similar to the previous one though this one held a young boy who didn't look much younger than the girl. This boy however seemed to be restrained by several chains and a straightjacket. Compared to the girl, he seemed rather scrawny with little muscle on his body. What Professor Stevens was drawn to was the deep dark brown eyes of his that went perfectly with his deep black, spiked hair. Though he didn't look like a threat, his black shorts and t-shirt (bearing an image of a wolf) were torn in several places. The tears looked like claw marks. In his eyes there was an element of ferocity and irritation that it partially faded when the two scientists entered the room. "People huh?" he said, trying to hide his happiness "finally, I've been waiting for company! It's gets lonely here what with every scientist leaving me because I'll tear them to pieces…" he exclaimed in an upbeat voice which trailed off "wait. You're Dr Alan, not you I hate you" he huffed. The feral look returned to his eyes and his face matched that of a rabid wolf. No, that's wrong. He was a rabid wolf, a black one to be specific. He began snarling at Dr Alan who slowly backed away to the door but was stopped by Professor Stevens "so who is he?" she asked him. Dr Alan sighed "experiment 013 or LyKaon. We discovered him in the wild in America as a wolf. When we realised he was part human we decided he would be very useful for our experiments". Professor Stevens looked at the boy with some pity "what experiments? Does he actually have a name?". "I think his name's something like Seether Lykaon, we experimented on his animal transformation. He now has rapid cell growth and he still has his animal instincts in human form. The only downside is that he can make himself rabid at will which is irritating since he will only listen to certain people, anyway moving on" he says hurriedly, leaving the room.

The two scientists passed by the scratches in the floor. Professor Stevens happened to notice this "I assume that wolf boy did that". Dr Alan nodded silently and reached another room. This one was different to the last two rooms. All the walls were made of clear glass. To the left was another room like the one they were in but inside was three people sat down at a table. Two were clearly scientists who were across from a tall, feminine looking red haired man. His hair neatly fell to his shoulders, surrounding his teal blue eyes which right now held a slight essence of fear. He looked more normal compared to the others; He looked about 15 and wore an orangey red t-shirt that matched his hair, baggy blue jeans and white trainers. A black fedora hat was hanging off the corner of his chair. The only thing that was unusual were the wires, straps and electrodes attached to his arms and head. He squirmed uncomfortable with them on., his hands trembling slightly. Dr Alan and Professor Stevens watched from the other side of the wall. Dr Alan decided to speak up "This is experiment 009, or Energiser, or even Riley Jones if you're sympathetic enough" he explained to the professor. From the other side of the wall, one of the two scientists flicked a switch on a small box he was holding which happened to be attached to the many wires on Riley. Suddenly, Riley screamed out in pain and several volts of electricity shot through his body, to his head. Riley took several deep breaths before looking back up to the men across the table. Professor Stevens mouth hung open in shock "What was that for!" she yelled at the Doctor. Dr Alan merely looked at her "he's a new subject. One of our scouts in England found him alone in his school He seemed to have quite a high tolerance for the pain so she had decided to take him. Surprisingly his parents didn't seem to care; they even gladly gave him up". Steven's still glared at him "but what was the point in shocking him?" she questioned. "He's our test subject for the limit of how much energy one person can take. Unlike the others he hasn't as of yet demonstrated anything new". As if on cue though, several sparks of static electricity emanated from Riley's hands, then a whole bright beam which shot through the wires and destroyed the box the scientists were holding. Every pair of eyes in the room grew wide, except Riley's who actually grew smaller, then closed as he passed out. "Interesting" Dr Alan mumbled "take notes of what just happened then carry him back to his cell" he addressed to the scientists, who simply nodded and began to carry out his orders. As they did so, Dr Alan and the Professor also left the room.

The professor was getting uncomfortable by this point "this place is like a mad house, please tell that was it" she mumbled. "No, there is one left" The doctor said, then gestured to the ink marks on the wall "our last subject did this" he mentioned, before entering the last room. This one was the just the same as the first two, and the situation very much like the first. A young short male of about 13 years was currently fighting a hologram using some strange inky object that looked like a large lion. Like Stryke, he also was wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, though in the corner a white lab coat, black boots and orange gloves lay in a heap. He seemed quite careless and reckless with his moves but showed some skill. His auburn eyes showed determination and his black hair was a complete mess, the orange streak hanging over one eye. Dr Alan proceeded to walk over to a monitor with a microphone "that's enough for today Death Breath" he said over the monitor. The hologram disappeared. The young man then went to pick up his clothes from the corner and entered the room with the Professor and Dr Alan, he started explain about the last subject "this is experiment 008, Death Breath or Flick Shiro. He's an interesting case. We found him on a Romanian boat and took him back here to experiment on Mind Control. However, he has ended up with quite a strange power indeed. He's able to dispel black ink from his fingers which he can turn into various coloured shadows such as the lion you saw". Professor Steven's looked to the boy's fingers, which were stained with black ink marks, then to the black ink stain on the floor in the testing room. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted though "that is not all he can do though" Dr Alan said, pulling a piece of paper with a drawing of a cockroach, as well as a pin which he held to Flick "you will demonstrate your power, yes?" he asked. Flick shook a head but the Doctor had something else to say "because if you don't you know what I'll do" he said, as another scientist held up a needle. A flash of fear swept through Flick's. He took the piece of paper and the pin reluctantly. Using the pin, he pricked his finger a let a small drop of blood fall to the paper. To the professors surprise, the cockroach had suddenly come to life, skittering around the floor until it was squished by Dr Alan "filthy creature, but good boy Flick" he said, then turned to a scientist "lead him back to his cell" he ordered, then pulled Professor Stevens out of the room.

"You've had your tour now, you'll start work with them in the morning" Dr Alan simply stated. As Professor Stevens nodded, he walked away, leaving her to find her way out. From outside, from two opposite ends of the building, two individuals had watched the entire scene unfold. On proceeded to disappear into the shadows, the other swung away on a rose vine. Both had found what they were looking for.

**Well, hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Reviews will be appreciated and constructive criticism is welcome. Do tell me if there's anything you want me to do with your character if I haven't got them quite right.**


	2. Chapter 2 The Renegades

**I do not own the characters in this story except The Ringmaster. Ember, Blind Spot and Arrow belong to chaneldancegrl, S7eVeN and Theoriganalhybrid respectively**

The circus tent was quiet at this time of night. Then again, it was always quite considering it had been abandoned years ago. The tent was enshrouded with darkness, spare as few dim lights that had been installed. Two rusted trapezes swung (making creaking noises as they did) high in the top of the tent above the many rows of seats which bordered the tent. In the centre was a glamorous looking stage which hadn't quite lost its wondrous colour and upon it was three podiums that would've once been used for the lion act. Beside them was a discarded whip. Silver and gold hoops were scattered everywhere.

However, as of recently a few strangely dressed people had been seen entering this mysterious tent. Who they are is unknown. Two of these people were currently inside the tent. Kira Cortez, a young woman of 17 years of age, was currently sitting on the edge of the stage creating sparks of electricity with her hands. She was tall, athletic woman and she wore an outfit that fit her body; a black spandex suit with yellow lightning bolts running up and down the costume. Around her waist was a utility belt that held several electric gadgets and weaponry. She huffed and sat up, brushing back a few dark brown bangs, and a few of the red streaks that matched her lipstick. It was medium length and the side bangs just covered her eyes, of which were a deep and mysterious brown that were almost and dark as the night. Brown eye shadow covered these dark eyes.

Behind her, a boy about two years older than her was swinging back and forth through the top space of the tent, but not on the trapezes. He was swinging using a thorned vine that had grown from his body. His coal black hair was waving with the breeze he was creating but was flicking out everywhere. He had a calm but cool look in his emerald eyes. He was obviously enjoying himself. Someone else wasn't. "Oi! Get down from there Rosie!" Kira yelled up to him, her voice sporting a thick Mexican accent. 'Rosie', better known as Troy Rosen Harken just chuckled "calm down Ember" he said with a smooth Irish accent. Kira just looked at him with more irritation "don't tell me what to do" she grumbled. Troy chuckled again and swung down from the vine in a professional flip in the air, like a circus performer would. He landed gracefully in front of Kira and smiled. He stood at quite a tall height with a slim waist. His outfit was similar to that of a circus ringleader. It mainly consisted of a long black tailcoat, black trousers and boots, a white button shirt underneath a dark red waistcoat. On his hands were white gloves and atop his head was a black top hat with a dark red rim. It wasn't currently visible but on his left arm there was a tattoo of a red rose. She merely huffed "so when are they getting here?" she asked impatiently. Kira and Troy had become partners in crime as of recently so they had gotten know each other quite well. Kira knew of Troy running from his family, his sister. She also knew of his previous circus days. Troy knew of Kira's old family and her many crimes of robbery, mugging and the like that he couldn't help but find interesting. Recently, the two had come into contact with two other villains who were rising in fame. They had invited to meet in the circus tent (Troy's idea) to discuss something interesting that Troy had found.

About 10 minutes after Troy decided to jump down from the vine, the two of them started to hear, what they thought, was the sounds of a horse outside the tent. They both looked confused "what was that?" Kira questioned. Their suspicions were confirmed when a gleaming white shire horse came charging into the tent with two female passengers on its back and a dark grey wolf following behind. The two girls carefully got off the horse, one more wary than the other. The wolf ran up and sat itself next to one of them, and the horse laid its head upon her shoulder. "Good girl, silver…and you too Dagger" she said in a cute but slightly evil sounding voice to the white horse and the wolf. She stood and faced the rest of them with a creepy smile. At first glance she looked quite innocent. She was a young girl of about 15 years. She spoke with a soft if not slightly creepy British accent. She wasn't very tall but she had quite a muscular build. Her pale face held two sparkling hazel eyes. Her hair was in a short brown bob with a purple streak on one side which hung over one of her eyes. She was currently wearing a black and purple long sleeved gothic dress, accessorised with grey lace up boots and black and purple striped tights. An arrow tattoo was visible on her right arm. "Uh…thanks for the lift" the girl next to her comments. Compared to the girl next to her, she was quite a tall, thin woman with soft olive toned skin. She also had quite a bit of muscle but was somehow also able to keep her womanly figure. Her hair was also short but had a much darker shade to it. It was shaped into a bob that framed her face but a few bangs here and there fell across her forehead. Under these bangs were a pair of light brown eyes that held quite a passionate and fiery look. Surrounding them was a dark shade of brown eye shadow. This girl's outfit mainly consisted of black spandex leggings that reached her mid-thigh with a short white apron-skirt over it. On her top half, she wore a sleeveless, purple shirt with a turtle neck that zipped up at the front. On the sleeves were white elbow pads and on her olive hands were black gloves. Her shoes were a bright pair of purple boots that reached her mid-calf and on her leg a holster was strapped which held various throwing knives.

Troy smirked with delight at these new allies but held his composure. He walked forward to face them both and bowed in a rather dramatic but gentlemanly way, removing his hat as he did so. "Welcome ladies, I am Troy Rosen Harken, but also The Ringmaster of this small but deadly circus of super powered people, and you shall address me as such". He then gestured to Kira "and this is my ever amazing ally". Kira walked forward, arms crossed "yes, hello I'm Kira Cortez or Ember to you , I work with this freak here and I have to say, you look just as strange" she said bluntly, then stepped back behind Troy. Putting his hat back on, Troy stood to his full height, and then turned to the girl with the horse and wolf. Before he could speak, Kira butted in again "So…you're the girl who can talk to horses? Pretty useless power if you ask me" she comments, which caused her tense up. "The name is Lauren Valintine or Arrow! I don't just talk to horses I communicate with them and understand their feelings, caring for them!" Lauren growls at Kira, launching a fist forward. In response, Kira launches and lightning bolt towards her but before it hits Lauren, the other girl reacts immediately and pushes her out the way, then dodges it herself. "You two act like a couple of kids…I hate that" she mumbles. Kira and Lauren give each other evil looks. Troy claps in amusement "so you are Blind Spot right?" he asked her coolly. She responds in a rather sarcastic voice "yeah, I'm Blind Spot but you can call me Alia Saleb, or Ali if you really want to be demeaning. Not like you'd care anyway". She pauses for a moment and a silence fills the tent. "So what did you want anyway? I heard you stumbled on something interesting" Lauren pipes up suddenly. Troy nodded his head and smirked again "oh yes, I stumbled on something very interesting. Four test subjects who were given extreme powers. One of them, the cute redhead, had a power similar to yours Kira" he said directly to her. She merely huffed "I'm better" she announces. Troy chuckles "of course you are, but I'm saying they could be powerful allies". Ali suddenly became interested "are implying that what I think you are? Because if you are I'm ALL for it" she says with a burning passion in her voice. Troy nodded, then does a back flip until he is standing on the stage above the girls and with a loud, excited voice he announces:

"Ladies and gentlemen, for your entertainment the Renegade Circus will perform a break in at the Cadmus Laboratory!"

**Hope you enjoyed chapter 2! If I didn't quite get the character right do tell me! Constructive criticism is happily taken.**

**Sorry if it takes so long putting up chapters but I do have a lot of school work to do!**


	3. Chapter 3 The Seasons

**Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been so busy! (Plus I've had writers block)**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the story! I do not own any of the characters except Mysteria. Motion, Gun Slinger and Burnout belong to PerfectlyStrange, YJ-Lover and Claray respectively.**

London's backstreets didn't hold much comfort or safety for the passers-by. They were dark, damp and dangerous to most, but not to the two individuals currently walking down them. One boy, one girl. Their outward appearances seemed fairly normal. The girl looked only about 15 and was wearing a plain red t-shirt under a black hoodie. The rest of her outfit consisted of baggy jeans, a pair of slightly scuffed Nike trainers and a silver locket lying around her neck. A pair of white iPhone headphones were shoved into her ears, music blaring out from them. Her hair was neatly tied back in a black ponytail. This way it kept out of the way of her eyes, which were brown like her tanned skin on her fairly toned body.

The boy next to her rolled his eyes as she mouthed the words and bobbed her head to the music. Like the girl he also had black hair, though his was cut into a military cut He looked older than her though. His eyes were also brown (though on his 'missions' they appeared a shade of orange). He was a rather lanky, tall man but had a kind smile on his face. His outfit mainly consisted of a dark hoodie with a band t-shirt underneath. On his bottom half were a pair of black jeans, that weren't baggy but were definitely not skinny jeans. On his feet was a pair of pure white converse. The strangest things about his appearance however were the silver necklace on his neck and the tattoo on his wrist, which read 'I will not disobey'. He sighed at the girl next to him, then pulled the headphones out of her ears "do you have to listen to them all the time?" he asked her with an awkward smile.

"Yes, so don't bother me" she retaliated, snatching them back.

"Calm down Jay, I'm just saying you could be a bit more sociable with me, I'm bored walking down these alleyways and who knows when we'll find the coffee shop" he said tiredly. Jay or Jayden Hex paused to think about this for a second, then came back with a comment.

"Alright then Burnie, tell me about that weird tattoo on your wrist" she commands, grabbing his wrist and pointing to the tattoo. 'Burnie', better known as Bruno Blue looked uncomfortable at this comment.

"Um…I don't really want to talk about that"

"Oi! You wanted a conversation, don't be so damn fickle!" Jayden snapped at him. The two of them stopped talking when they finally arrived outside their destination. It was a reasonable sized looking coffee shop. The faded but readable sign said 'Laker's Café'. The two entered (a small bell ringing as they entered). The building was practically empty

The owner of the café-Jared Laker-was behind the counter. Behind him were a few, worn down coffee machines. In front of him was a rather delicious looking cake display. Both Jayden and Bruno looked hungrily at the cakes but were interrupted by a coal black and long haired girl about the same age as Bruno carrying a tray with a few stained coffee mugs on it.

"Are you gonna order something or are you just here for business? Because I'd rather you be here for both" She said with a soft, Irish accent but in a cold way. She wasn't a tall girl, but she did have a reasonably muscled, slim figure. She looked at them with dark green eyes which were known to pierce right through you, leaving a shiver up your spine. She had that kind of effect on you. Despite the fact she was a waitress here, her outfit didn't reflect that. She was currently wearing a Three Days Grace band t-shirt, with black skinny jeans and a pair of black plimsolls. The only work related item she was wearing was a name tag on her shirt which read 'Lys Silvian Harken'. The other two merely looked at her.

"Come on Silver, you know why we're here" Bruno said to Lys, who huffed in response "she's upstairs, I'll be up in a sec, I've gotta clear something up. You want anything?" she asked dryly.

"I'll just a coffee" Bruno said, waving her off.

"And I'll have a cappuccino" Jayden butted in afterwards. Lys nodded, and walked behind the counter as Bruno and Jayden headed to the upstairs part of the café.

The upstairs was empty as well, apart from one 16 year old girl sitting in the corner table by the window, sipping at a hot cup of tea. She had a curvy, lean build with soft, pale skin. Long brown hair with a few red streaks fell over her hazel eyes. Her eyes were surrounded with brown eye shadow and a small amount of mascara. On her lips was vanilla chapstick. Her outfit was fairly normal as well. She wore a black t-shirt bearing a pair of red lips that also read 'Kiss me', on top of her blue skinny jeans and black army boots. On the back of her chair hung a black leather jacket. A silver locket hung around her neck, which moved as she moved her neck to see the two people sitting down at her table. She placed her cup down on the table and looked up at them. Jayden grinned "long time, no see…Stevie Hunter". Stevie smiled "same to you Jay".

As the three friends chatted amongst themselves, Lys came up with another tray with three mugs on it. She placed Jayden's and Bruno's mugs down then placed hers (filled with a delicious smelling hot chocolate) down as she sat in the seat beside Stevie. Bruno, deciding his wasn't hot enough, used his powers of fire to heat it up, but Stevie scolded him as he did so "don't use your power in public like that!"

Silence filled the room for a moment, until Stevie interrupted again "so what's all this about the test subjects at Cadmus Lab?" she asked directly at Lys. They all looked at her questioningly. She sighed and answered the question.

"I discovered not long ago that Cadmus had kidnapped four young individuals from different areas. They have been carrying out cruel experiments on these people to try and develop synthetic powers inside them. But it's horrifying…I remember them shocking a young red haired boy…" she said, trailing off. The other three looked at her in horror. Jayden became particularly angry "what! Well let's help them! We can't leave them there!" she shouted. Bruno put a hand on her shoulder, ushering her to calm down. Lys shook her head "I don't think we're the first to think of that though, someone else was there aside from me" she mumbled.

"Hah" maybe it was Troy" Stevie joked. This time Lys lost her cool

"Don't mention that name again" she growled at Stevie.

"Don't tell me what to do" was her response. Bruno broke it up eventually

"Whatever the case we have to do something" he mentioned. They all nodded in agreement. Lys regained her composure, but held a cold look in her eyes

"Very well. The Seasons have a new mission" She said seriously.

"Motion"; Stevie nodded.

"Gun Slinger"; Jayden looked up and nodded too.

"Burnout"; Bruno gave Lys a serious look back.

"And Mysteria…well that's me. But anyway, tomorrow night we shall meet at the Cadmus laboratory. Our mission: Free the subjects!"

**Well, that's chapter 3, an introduction to the heroes. But what are their powers? Just wait to find out! **


	4. Chapter 4 The Mission

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been really busy with schoolwork plus I've had writers block. I've also decided this story is now set (Spoiler alert!) after Red Arrow joins the team, just because he is my favourite character!**

**Ah well, here you go!**

"I have a new mission for the team". This was announced by Batman only a short moment ago in his usual, unemotional voice and it was addressed to the team who were currently standing in front of him. They were all present and were dressed in civilian clothing, since most of them had only just arrived. Aqualad and Robin were standing in the middle of the group, listening quietly. Superboy was listening as well, but wasn't really caring about what was said; Miss Martian stuck close by to him. Red Arrow was stood just next to Aqualad with his usual serious expression whilst Artemis was stood as far away from him as possible (with Kid Flash hanging about next to her), shooting him dirty looks every now and again. Roy just shrugged them off. It wasn't just the team present however, to the left and right of Batman stood Green Arrow and Black Canary in their superhero outfits, although they passed more affectionate looks between them. They stopped however as Batman coughed and brought them all to attention. He turned around to the large screen behind him. With a few swift typing motions he quickly pulled up several images on the screen. Four of them depicted four young teenagers, with different age ranges. One of them looked about as young as Robin, which struck a (subtle) confused but sympathetic look on Robin's face. The four shown were a tall and feminine red haired man, a scrawny but feral looking blacked haired man, a strawberry blonde skinny girl who looked like the eldest of the lot and the youngest boy who had black hair but with an odd orange streak. However, there was also another picture that happened to catch Superboy's attention. It was all too familiar looking building, with a faded sign that still read 'Cadmus'. Batman proceeded to explain.

"Several months ago, four young teenagers were kidnapped from their hometowns across the globe by Cadmus. They were Riley Jones, Lafayette Ray, Seether Lykaon and Flick Shiro. We are not entirely sure why they were taken but we know what is being done to them. After hacking into the building's security cameras it has been revealed that Cadmus have been conducting countless, cruel experiments in the aim of empowering them with extreme, synthetic powers to create the ultimate superhuman. As of yet, we cannot tell how much of a threat this is. All we know is that we cannot allow them to continue this"

"Damn right we can't!" Superboy shouted, anger evident in his voice "how can you just sit back and talk about this calmly? Why didn't destroy their lab sooner?" he asked angrily, moving himself closer to Batman, almost coming face to face. Miss Martian ushered him to calm down "Conner, calm down please" she asked kindly. With a huff, he complied and stepped back. Batman then continued.

"We didn't infiltrate them earlier because we needed to gather more information"

"On what?" Superboy asked with stubbornness.

"Security, building plans, their experiments. We needed full information before we could conduct a plan. This is where you come in" He stated. The rest of the team perked up and listened.

"Not all of you will be going on this mission. The chosen candidates for this mission are Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Superboy and Red Arrow".

The said candidates nodded. The rest didn't look as pleased. Zatanna simply sighed, Miss Martian looked at Superboy sadly but Artemis held a look of irritation "so how come HE gets to go and not me? I've been on the team longer" she spoke out against Batman. From behind him, Green Arrow was silently urging her to stop talking. Batman, however took the outburst calmly "Red Arrow has had more experience in this field, and for this mission to succeed we needed the more experienced members" he explained. Artemis shot Red Arrow and distrustful look-which he returned-then stepped back. "What about Superboy?" Zatanna piped in. "He knows Cadmus laboratory better than most of us do, therefore he will be able to find his way around, as well any of the weak points" Batman explained again "Are there any other questions?" he asked the rest of the team. The others looked contempt, so he simply stood back "the infiltration is tomorrow, prepare yourself for then" he said just before leaving the room.

The team gathered together. "Sweet! New mission, just for the guys" Wally exclaimed happily, punching his fist in the air. Artemis just huffed and left the room. The other two girls took this as their cue to leave as well (just after M'Gann decided to leave Superboy with a kiss on the cheek). Black Canary ran after them, mainly to check on Artemis. Green Arrow stepped up to the five boys "Just to note, you should be wary on this mission. Whilst on my patrols with Artemis I picked up news of two other teams of super powered teens such as yourselves. One of them is a team of villains if I'm right"

"You mean those Renegades? Aren't they the weird team with that girl who rides a horse?"" Robin interrupted.

"They are, and the other is a relatively new hero team. You may have heard of them, they're called The Seasons"

"I've heard of them, they're that team of three girls and one guy" Red Arrow chimed in. "I've seen one of them before" Aqualad also chimed in "one of the girls. She had strange power; she looked as though she was controlling someone's emotions".

Green Arrow nodded "Yes, that's them. I'm just warning you, be careful. They could prove to be a challenge" he mentioned. With that, he left the boys to it.

After all, tomorrow night was going to be interesting.

**Sorry if this chapter is too short and if it sucks. I don't really know how the write the characters in the team. I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way, as I've been looking forward to the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5 The Infiltration Part 1

**Well, here's the chapter I've been looking forward to! Enjoy!**

All of them were in position. To the right, the left and the back of the building, three sets of people were in place. The Ringmaster readied his newly assembled team, The Renegades, all dressed in their same outfits from their meeting in the circus tent. With a crack of a vine whip, he sent them to different parts of the building. Arrow took to the back windows, Blind Spot headed left to another window, Ember nodded to Troy before dropping down to find a door, and Troy himself took to the roof. From their hidden spots, the boys silently awaited the signal from Red Arrow over their earpieces. Aside from Red Arrow, the rest were paired up; Aqualad with Superboy (plus Wolf) by the back entrance, Robin and Kid Flash by the front entrance. Red Arrow was on the roof. The Seasons-Mysteria, Motion, Gun Slinger and Burnout-were all together on the right side of the building. They found it more essential to keep together at this point, to assure their plan went well. They were dressed differently from their last meeting. Mysteria was currently dressed in a purple silk shirt and pant set, with a dark flower pattern along the rims. This was topped off with a flowing black cloak and black plimsoll shoes. A silver butterfly was visible on her left arm. Next to her, Motion was dressed in a short purple dress which stopped four inches above her knee. Under her dress, she was wearing a pair of black leggings that stopped half an inch below her knee. A black jacket, cut off at her ribs, was worn over the dress and on her feet were a pair of black and white converse that had built in supports that made them comfortable for fighting. Unlike before, her hair was kept up in a ponytail, which kept out of her eyes which were covered by a purple eye mask. A little distance below them stood Gun Slinger and Burnout (who always stood together strangely). In this persona, Gun Slinger was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with GS enscribed in red over the space where her heart is along with black pants, grey combat boots and grey fingerless gloves. Around her waist she kept a grey utility belt which held a pair of matching grey gun holders with GS enscribed on them, as well as a domino mask covering her face. Next to her Bruno, now Burnout, was also wearing a different outfit. Like Mysteria, he also wore a black cloak though underneath he was wearing a simple black t-shirt and jogging bottoms. On his feet were a pair of comfortable black trainers. His outfit may have been simple but it provided comfort and flexible movement. It was also made of fireproof material, which was specifically designed for his power. Mysteria looked down to the teammates below.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" she asked them, but quietly. Both of them nodded. Motion didn't respond; Mysteria simply assumed she knew as well. She nodded back, clenching her fist.

The Ringmaster readied his whip, Red Arrow reached for his earpiece. All at once, Mysteria raised her hand, Ringmaster cracked his whip, Red Arrow sent the signal.

All at once, the infiltration began.

Superboy smashed in a backdoor, providing an entrance for himself and Aqualad. Their teammates at the front were able to knock out the two security guards at the entrance, therefore sneaking their way in. From the left hand side of the building, Ringmaster's team set to work. Blind Spot finally found a window which led into a very useful room. With a mighty blow, she shattered the glass (avoiding every piece skilfully) and leapt in. Ember looked irritated; she had found herself stuck with a locked door. Not wanting to waste her strength on this one, she stepped back, flicked a few red streaks out of her eyes and launched a thunderbolt at the door which blew off the lock. With a satisfied smirk, Ember proceeded to enter, finding yet another door that read 'Energiser'. "Hmm, looks like my kind of door" she mumbled, reaching a hand out for the handle.

Arrow, along with her precious wolf Dagger found herself by the back windows. However, she slightly went against Ringmasters original plan and dropped to the floor. With a sharp whistle Arrow called out another one of her horses. From over the metal gates, a beautiful dark brown Hackney horse with a white nose leapt over and greeted her mistress. She smiled evilly "good girl Lana" she whispered soothingly, stroking the horse's mane. Adjusting her dress, Arrow settled herself on the horses back. Dagger stood to the side of the horse. As she looked up though, she happened upon noticing two figures also entering from the back door. At first she looked irritated though this was replaced by an evil look "looks like we have a couple foxes Dagger" she commented, then imitated a typical English hunter blowing their horn and charged in after them. The Ringmaster had already headed towards the roof, where he happened to bump into Red Arrow.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Red Arrow demanded, pulling out his boy and readying an arrow which was pointed straight at the strangely dressed man in front of him. He merely smirked.

"I am the lion tamer ,the flying trapeze artist and the mighty strongman all rolled into one" he responded. Red Arrow fired the arrow.

The Seasons had already set to work on their side. Burnout had moved backed slightly, allowing Gun Slinger to get to work. Using a glass cutter, she had carefully cut a large enough hole in the window (she had not wanted to draw unnecessary attention) then slipped herself through. Burnout followed shortly after. Both of them entered strange looking control room, covered with several ink stains and a few pictures of some young people. One of a red haired boy, one of a boy with ink stained hands, one of a girl with what looked like bones coming out of her wrists and another of a large, dark haired wolf. Both their eyes widened.

Mysteria and Motion were about to do the same. Before she did anything, there was a flash of movement on the roof, followed with a shot of an arrow. With suspicion, Mysteria surrounded herself with shadows. Motion knew what this indicated.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"My own reasons Motion; go through with the plan by yourself. I'm going to check something out on the roof, don't follow" Mysteria responded coldly, letting shadows surround her and lead her up towards the roof. From behind her mask, Motion didn't look particularly happy "she should know I won't listen when she says 'don't follow'" she muttered to herself.

On the roof, Mysteria was met with the last thing she wanted to see. Two people were currently in combat; one was a red clad archer, firing arrow after arrow at his opponent. The other was an eccentrically dressed circus member, whacking each arrow away with a crack of his vine whip. One of the arrows knocked of his top hat, revealing a pair of all too familiar green eyes to Mysteria. A pair of eyes that happened to match her own.

"You'll have to do better than that cutie if you want to hit me" he yelled enthusiastically. Thankfully he hadn't noticed Mysteria yet. Red Arrow did though.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?" He yelled, not shooting an arrow though as he was too busy with the Ringmaster. The black haired man turned to see her, his expression quickly changing to irritation "go away sister! This is my fight and my break in! I'm the one who'll claim the prize here" he yelled, moving his whip to attack Mysteria instead. However, she able to dodge it easily. It obvious in his expression that he had become consumed with blind rage, which was distracting from fighting skilfully.

"Looks like it was Troy after all" a familiar sweet voice rang from behind her. Mysteria whipped around. "Motion? I thought I told you to carry on as planned" she scolded, but quickly regained her composure. Motion proceeded to dodge another one of the Ringmasters attacks and moved closer "you should know I'll never listen" she said with a smile "I thought I could see little Rosie up there so I thought I'd help you out a little, boys are so easy to manipulate, I swear they're more emotional than girls sometimes"

Mysteria sighed but smiled. She suddenly remembered the fight though. Holding out her hands, she generated a dark shadowy ball between them and launched it at the Ringmaster who didn't think to look and was knocked off the building. Mysteria surveyed the rest of her surroundings. Red Arrow had already left the scene, most likely during the fight between the twins. Moving a ginger lock out of her eyes, she turned back to Motion "lets continue with the mission, we'll travel by shadows" she said, surrounding the two of them in said darkness before disappearing.

From the back area of the building (which happened to a warehouse), Arrow had finally caught up with the two boys she was chasing down. With an evil smirk, Arrow dismounted her horse, stroking its nose then turning to meet with her rivals.

"Looks like the foxes have finally been caught, now to move in for the kill" she said. With a click of her fingers, both Dagger and the horse launched themselves at the two captives. Aqualad and Superboy were left without time to think. As Dagger nearly reached the clone, Wolf had leapt in front to protect its master. A brawl between the two vicious animals broke out on the floor. Deep, bleeding scratches and bite marks quickly covered the two of them. Arrow and Superboy were left in slight shock. The horse on the other hand had found its target, bashing Aqualad's chest with its hind hooves with immense strength. Aqualad doubled over in pain and feel back.

"Superboy, go for the girl! Wolf will be fine!" he yelled to the kryptonian. Superboy nodded and launched himself towards the girl, though thanks to her enhanced reflexes she was able to dodge the fist that nearly connected with her jaw. She laughed loudly at them.

"Is that it? My, my are you two pathetic" she said spitefully. With a flick of her wrist both Dagger and the horse returned to Arrow's side. Aqualad regained his composure and stood up to meet their enemy. The fight here wasn't over yet.

From yet another part of the building, Blind Spot fell through window, landing head first on the floor. Sitting up she swept away some of her messed up bangs then froze. She could immediately sense someone else in there. From behind with a very quiet but detectable breathing and snarling which a normal person wouldn't have noticed. Turning round slowly, Blind Spot was met with two eyes, darker than midnight that held a feral look. She almost regretted saying what she did just then.

"Who or what the hell are you?"

**Finally! Part 1 is done! But now you have to wait for part 2! Hope you like it!**


	6. Chapter 6 The Infiltration Part 2

**Okay, in fairness I've been real busy so I haven't been able to focus on this fanfic. Thanks to YJ-Lover and Just Call Me Helpful (anonymous reviewer) for helping me out with ideas. Well, enjoy!**

"Who, or what the hell are you?" Blind Spot asked the beast in front of her. Said beast growled in response, his appearance reflecting that of a rabid dog. Foam dripped from the fangs in the corners of his mouth which caused Blind Spot to look in disgust. She couldn't stand germs and his disgusting drool was getting to her. Carefully, the olive skinned girl pulled out two of her throwing knives. The wolf boy looked up instantly, though with a look that could be considered a 'puppy face'.

"Why…why is everyone so cautious around me, c'mon just give me one chance I'm not such a bad guy" He moaned, though Blind Spot detected a growl underneath. As the wolf boy looked at her again, eyes more pleading this time, she realised it may be best to try and compromise with him for now. Considering his unusual wild nature she suspected he might be one of the test subjects she was looking for; and Ringmaster's orders were to get the test subjects to like them as it made their job easier for them later. Slowly, Blind Spot laid the throwing knives down on the ground. The wolf boy's eyes followed this movement then gave her a look of approval.

"Great! Finally, someone I can talk to without them jabbing something in my arm" the wolf boy exclaimed happily. The feral look was completely gone from his eyes. He looked like any other normal teen.

"Yeah, okay wolfy boy. So…what's your name?" Blind Spot asked awkwardly. She really wanted to get this over with.

"Seether Lykaon" he said with a smile "and you?"

Blind Spot paused for a second. 'I can't tell him my real name, but my codename might make him suspicious…'

"…Ali" she huffed "just call me Ali".

"Really? Is that it? What's your full name? Come on, a girl with a strange outfit like that must have a better name than that" Seether commented, smirking.

"It's all your gonna get wolfy, I don't have to tell you anything so shut your fangs" Blind Spot shouted heartily. Silence fell between them for about another minute until Blind Spot sighed and spoke up

"Look, how about I help you outta those chains there" she said, reaching over. Using her power, she enhanced her sight. This allowed her to detect a weak link in the chains. However, as soon as she found the weak link…

BANG!

A reasonably sized explosion blew down the door, creating a blinding light at the same time. Blind Spot let go of the weak link and turned off all her senses so the light wouldn't affect her. As the light faded she got up, flicked back her brown hair, and ran out the door to see what the commotion was.

Seether on the other hand was still left in the chains on the floor.

"So much for trusting her. Next time she's nothing but prey" he growled deeply, pulling at the chains. As he did this, he discovered something hopeful: A loose chain.

Seether grinned, breaking the loose chain with his hands. He then got up and walked towards the window (though his steps were shaky after being held down for so long). Looking out the window, he could see the moon clearly above.

The howls echoed through the building.

-X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Ember was met with a sight she didn't expect as she passed through the door labelled 'Energiser'. The door had led to quite an empty room, all apart from a tall red haired man sitting with his back to her at a table in the middle of the room. She stood and waited for a moment to see if the boy had noticed her entering. There was no response. With full confidence, Ember strode forward and grabbed the man's shoulder.

Instantly he shot round, a flash of fear sweeping over his eyes.

"Wha…what…do you want" he stuttered in a soft voice, frozen in place. Ember took this as her chance.

"What's your name kid?" she asked coldly. The boy shook.

"Ri…Riley. Riley Jones" he stuttered again.

"Well you can relax Riley Jones, I'm not gonna hurt you. That's not my job" she said in an irritated tone 'though don't know why I'm following Ringmaster's orders, it would be easier to shock him now and get it over and done with' she thought to herself.

"Anyway, basic point Red Head, you're coming with me" she stated. However, as she went to pull him out of the chair she received a largely painful static shock through her arm. Ember cried out in pain and backed up slightly. Riley slowly got up and out of his seat.

'But how? I didn't use my power" Ember riddled in her brain 'unless…'.

Her eyes widened immediately as she suddenly remembered the sign on above the door which read 'Energiser'. Of course! He was one of the test subjects after all. Ember looked up to see the red haired man looked tired. 'He must have the same power as me' she thought.

"Hey, you! You really think you can take me down with a small shock like that?" she yelled, startling him. "Let's see what you can really do"

Riley ran in the opposite direction towards the other door. However to his dismay it was locked. Ember took this as her chance and launched a blinding thunderbolt at Riley.

The tall man only had a split second to dodge the bolt, so he dropped to left which let the thunderbolt hit the door instead. The door blew outwards, creating an escape for Riley.

Their chase turned into a game of cat and mouse. Riley bolted down the hallways, though no matter how far he ran Ember was only just behind, launching bolts of pure energy at any given moment. It was long till they hit a dead end. Riley stopped just a centimetre before the wall. He gritted his teeth and turned to face his foe. He was met with a familiar sight however, as the girl looked rather tired.

'I guess energy powers work the same for everyone' he thought to himself but was easily cut off by another beam of energy. 'Looks like I'm not getting out of this though'.

Riley raised his hands. The room filled with a blinding light for a few seconds then was followed by an instant shattering of all the light bulbs. This resulted in the corridors experiencing a blackout.

Ember cursed under breath then yelled out into the darkness.

"Don't think you can hide Riley Jones, we're not done yet!"

With that, another flash filled the room.

-X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"This looks like the right room" Burnout said to his colleague as they entered the room through the window. Both landed gracefully on the floor, then proceeded to explore the room. Around the room were several control panels with various buttons, screens and dials. Gun Slinger walked over to one of the control panels. She reached out her hand to press one of the buttons but was loudly interrupted by the black clad man behind her.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Don't touch anything, we're here for the test subjects and that's it! We have to make sure that no-one knows that we've been here" Burnout scolded his partner. He walked over and pulled her tanned hand away from the control panel. Gun Slinger rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Okay, okay, calm down Burnie. Liven up a bit, you're starting to sound like Mysteria" she said.

"I'm just saying, we shouldn't disobey Mysteria and Motion's orders" he said more calmly this time. He looked around again, trying to figure out where the test subjects might be when a voice rang out from behind him.

"Found them!"

Burnout turned and walked over the where Gun Slinger was standing. In front of them was a glass wall which showed what looked like a plain white training room below them. Inside, sure enough, were two people although they were separated by a bluish force field barrier. One was a young boy in his early teens, wearing a white lab coat. He was just lying there with his eyes closed. It looked as though he was sleeping. The other was an older looking girl who was short but quite skinny. She was awake unlike the other boy. She seemed to be watching him with a calm expression. Neither of them had noticed the two season members watching them.

"So what do we do now?" Gun Slinger asked Burnout quietly. Burnout paused and thought for a second before replying.

"First of all we need to find a way of getting them out of there, however we need to do it calmly and safely so we don't scare them"

"Yeah, so they don't think we're the bad guys. You know, I bet Mysteria would have a hard time getting them to like her, with that cold attitude and all"

Burnout sighed but smiled. However, his smile quickly faded and was replaced with confusion as an all too familiar laugh echoed behind them. Both Burnout and Gun Slinger whipped round instantly.

"Who's there?" Burnout asked to the silence. The laugh echoed through the room again. Gun Slinger instantly drew out both her guns from her signature 'GS' gun holsters and held them up.

"Alright! Come outta the shadows if you know what's good for-"

She was cut off as something flashed in front of her. She looked down at her hands to realise her guns were missing. "Hey!"

The two of them were now faced with their rivals. On the other side of the room, a yellow clad teen was twirling one of her guns in his hand with a cheeky smile on his face. From the ceiling, a black haired kid dropped down and stood next to him. Gun Slinger immediately smiled. Burnout raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but I had to confiscate these. They might just prove to be a good souvenir" the speedy boy said. Gun Slinger looked annoyed, although she was still looking at Robin. Burnout looked annoyed as well; his hands became alight with fire.

"Robin and Kid Flash if I'm not mistaken? I remember Motion mentioning you" he said calmly, but he shot them a warning gaze.

"Not feeling the aster here, so do you mind telling me who you are?" Robin asked him, keeping his cool.

"Yeah, you too babe" Kid Flash butted in, winking at Gun Slinger who waved it off.

"It's Gun Slinger 'babe', and those are mine" she said, pointing at her guns.

"Yeah I know" Kid Flash stated simply.

"Well, you'd better give them back" Burnout shouted and with that, he created a ring of fire which surrounded Kid Flash. As the speedster struggled, trying to keep away from the flames, Burnout leapt into them to retrieve the guns. Robin went to intercept but received a flying kick in the cheek from Gun Slinger instead.

"Gun Slinger" Burnout yelled out. Gun Slinger turned around caught the two guns thrown at her

"Thanks, you go for Kid Flash, I'll take Robin!" she said, with a squeal at the end.

The fight began.

Gun Slinger didn't use her guns at first. Robin charged at her with a flying kick of his own though she dodged it with ease. She threw a punch herself which nearly connected with Robin's jaw, though he did a backflip which avoided the punch and kicked her in the chin at the same time.

Burnout and Kid Flash on the other hand were fighting with their powers. Kid Flash was expertly dodging several fireballs that were launched by Burnout. Speeding round, the speedster connected into the other man's side. Burnout fell to the floor. However, he took this as an opportunity. As the speedster ran back, the burning hero grabbed his ankle (hands still alight with fire) which caused him to fall as well. Burnout immediately got himself up and created another ring of fire around his opponent, trapping him. He looked over to his partner, who was having some trouble with her own opponent. Several expert moves were exchanged between them. It didn't help that they were both martial arts experts. Eventually Gun Slinger pulled out her guns again. She held them up to shoot at Robin but was suddenly reminded of their own goal. Gun Slinger dodged another hit from Robin then turned round and shot straight at the glass wall.

Her shot hit the perfect spot, as the wall completely shattered, awakening the other test subject and revealing their freedom.

"Hey! You're not getting away with them, that's our mission!" Kid Flash piped up from the floor.

"You're mission? What makes you think we want to be stuck under someone else?" questioned the young dark haired boy.

"I have to agree with my fellow subject here, we're sick of having to work for or with anyone" the girl from the tank spoke up, standing next to him. Robin looked to the piece of technology on his wrist.

"Death Breath…and Stryke if I'm not mistaken" he spoke to them. They both looked annoyed at this comment.

"We have names you know!" The boy growled. Black ink started to drip from his fingertips, taking on the form of some strange but large animal. Stryke followed his lead, extracting two bones from her wrists, pain becoming evident in her face as she did so.

The four other people in the room fell silent, except for Robin who simply said:

"I am so not feeling the aster right now"

**Well there's part 2! Sorry not everyone is in this chapter but it's all going to be pulled together in part 3! Hope you like it!**


	7. Chapter 7 The Infiltration Part 3

**Alright, next chapter! Enjoy!**

Stryke lifted the sharp bone and leapt at her closest target, who happened to be Gun Slinger. She had no time to react as the bone struck down and connected with her head. Or, that's what she anticipated. Much to her (and Burnout's) relief, the test subject's arm was being held back, by a familiar dark shadowy force. Stryke struggled against the shadow surrounding her arm but did not prevail. From behind, two dark clad girls appeared in the shadows. The two season members lit up immediately.

"Mysteria, Motion!" Burnout exclaimed. Mysteria shot him a cold looked and turned to Motion "you know what to do". Motion nodded at her and proceeded to turn to the rest of the group. The test subject with the ink on his hands reacted and came to his fellow subject's rescue. The inky monster he'd created charged at Mysteria. However, Motion set to work. In an instant, the angry tension that was hanging in the air vanished. All at once the faces of each person in the room became calm. The large inky monster collapsed and became a black mess on the floor below their feet. Stryke's composure returned as she lowered her arm. Checking over her work, Motion turned back to Mysteria.

"All okay, you can let that girl go now" she said, nodding at the female subject. Mysteria nodded once. The shadows surrounding the other girl's arm faded, slowly giving back her freedom of movement. Gun Slinger breathed a sigh of relief but became tense again as she saw the cold, piercing look on Mysteria's face.

"What…do you think you were doing!" the dark girl scolded. Before the other two had a chance to speak she scolded them again.

"You directly disobeyed orders, nearly starting a fight with the subjects we are supposed to be helping, as well attracting attention from them" she said, pointing to the two superheroes that happened to be trying to sneak away at this point.

"Oh no you don't" she hissed. Kid Flash attempted to speed away but found himself unable to. Mysteria took this moment and surrounded them both with shadows, which held them down.

"Keep an eye on them" she spoke to Motion.

"Hold on a second, you were supposed to be right behind us, where did you go?" Burnout asked curiously. Mysteria narrowed her eyes.

"…Something else came up, I had to temporarily change plans" she explained.

"Really? Did it happen to start with Ring-"Gun Slinger was immediately cut off by Burnout, who covered her mouth.

The shadowed girl's face twisted with irritation and she nearly swore at her teammate. Thankfully, Motion calmed her down before anything rash happened. There was silence for a moment when a younger voice broke it.

"Hold on, you lot keep saying about 'plans' and 'helping', but what exactly do you want with us?" The male test subject asked quite forwardly, stepping closer to them. Stryke also raised her arm, with the sharp bone, defensively at this statement. Motion stepped forward and whispered to Mysteria "don't worry, I'll take this". She smiled at the test subjects.

"Well, we know about what has been going on here, about the cruel things they've been doing to you here" she explained sympathetically, hoping to reason with them. They both looked calm so she continued.

"Basically, we couldn't stand this idea so we planned to liberate you, freeing you from this awful place".

"Wait! That's exactly what we were doing!" Kid Flash butted in from the other side of the room.

"Yes! We've been tracking the tests they've been doing for a long time!" Robin added, hoping to persuade the test subjects to their side.

"Well so have we" Burnout pointed out "and it'll be us who will save them".

A wall of fire flickered and spread across the middle of the room, separating the seasons from the sidekicks. The seasons looked to Mysteria and Motion for Instructions. Mysteria gave a simple enough response.

"Let's get out of here, front entrance"

They all nodded and ran out the door, pulling the subject them. The wall of fire vanished as soon as Burnout left the room, so the others were safe and free.

"This isn't good, they took the subjects" Robin said irritably, pacing up and down. He stopped though as he stepped in a pool of some dark liquid. Slowly, Robin lifted his foot and examined the stain. He turned to Kid Flash with a confused face and in unison, they both turned round to see a young boy with ink dripping from his fingers.

"So I guess I'm stuck with you now, alright. Name's Flick. Don't forget it"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The Ringmaster groaned and clutched at his head. His dark hair was even messier now; several bangs hung in front of his dark green eyes. In those dark green orbs, anger was evident. Some cuts ran along his cheeks and hands, a small amount of blood seeping from them. The same crimson blood also dripped from the corner of his snarling mouth.

He growled deeply and got to his feet, brushing of his red coat and wiping the blood from his mouth. He looked to the back of the building.

"Damn…Lys…how dare you…interrupt…my plan…I hate you…I'll kill you…if I get the chance…you damn twin…" he muttered, taking heavy breaths as he walked to the back of the building. If he wasn't already furious, what he saw next made it worse. The back window Arrow was supposed to enter through was unbroken. Ringmaster's eye twitched furiously, but he kept his composure, breathing heavily. Turning round, he noticed the open back door, through which he heard the noises of a horse.

"Arrow…"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Red Arrow sped down the staircase. He gritted his teeth, thinking about the fight he had run from. It was irritating that he didn't finish the fight, but he a plan to execute and he couldn't waste time with distractions.

After running down several stair cases, the archer found himself in a whitewashed hallway, devoid of people. He examined the hallway first, checking for cameras (of which there were only two). Red Arrow reached behind and pulled two arrows out of his quiver. They both shot at the cameras; they scrambled the images. He took this as his chance and ran down the hallway until he came to a familiar looking doorway. When he opened it, he was met with a shock.

"But…the subjects are supposed be in here" He exclaimed. He was just met with an empty room, aside from a single table and chair. He decided not to stick around. After all, the subject might be somewhere else. He left the room and kept moving down the hallway. However, he heard something oddly familiar. He looked down to a see a trapdoor below his feet. Red Arrow knelt down and lifted the hatch open, though when he did, water splashed into his eye.

"No way…"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Meanwhile, over in the warehouse and battle was still in progress. Arrow was starting to lose her cool with the two strong men in front of her. Aqualad had her and Superboy and currently surrounded in a watery field. The two wolves were outside the ring, brawling; standing up for their masters. Inside the ring, Superboy was throwing several punches at the girl in the dress. Thanks to her reactions, she was able to dodge them with ease, stepping out of the way. However, he caught her from the back and whacked a punch at her head. Arrow growled and crouched down, grabbing at her brown hair. Aqualad nodded to his partner and washed away the ring of water. They both cautiously walked up to the crouching girl. Still with caution, Aqualad reached a hand out slowly…

WHACK!

His hand was knocked away easily with a sharp, thorned vine. They both looked forward and noticed an oddly dressed man at the doorway. Neither of them laughed though, as the main the red coat was looking at them with intense anger. Arrow looked around a grinned. She instantly leapt up and kicked Superboy in the chin. She giggled and jumped up, mounting her horse.

"You're gonna have to do better than that with The Ringmaster around! He'll really 'whip' you into shape" She said, laughing cruelly.

"You're not off the hook by the way" Ringmaster scolded as he walked up beside Arrow. She cringed slightly at this comment.

"As for you two, I'm finishing this now!" he yelled, launching more vines at them. Superboy and Aqualad didn't think to move but they were thankfully saved. Ringmaster and Arrow looked in surprise. A black and red arrow had cut cleanly through the vine, which killed it before it reached the sidekicks. Even the wolves stopped (and after, returned to their respective masters). They all looked up in unison, to see a certain red clad archer fall from the ceiling. He landed between the two groups, pulled out another arrow and lined it up in his bow. He held this up to the Renegades.

"You, the circus guy. We have unfinished business" Red Arrow directed straight to Ringmaster. He fired the arrow, but it didn't reach his target. Instinctively, Arrow leapt in front with her horse and took the arrow…well her horse did. The horse cried in pain. Arrow looked in shock, then immediately got off her horse and proceeded to tend to its wound. Ringmaster turned round to check she was okay then whipped round again.

"You..." is all he could growl.

As Red Arrow proceeded to ready another arrow, Aqualad walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you wish to continue this fight, but we have orders we must follow. We must leave them"

Red Arrow grumbled but nodded. He replaced the arrow in his hand with another and shot it at the Renegades. The room filled with smoke, causing them to cough and choke. When the smoke cleared, the sidekicks were gone. The Ringmaster growled and looked down at Arrow, who had finished bandaging the horse's leg.

"Why did you disobey my orders" He said to her darkly. She returned the dark look.

"I don't always have to listen to you, I had that!" She yelled. Ringmaster shot her an angry look, but sighed.

"Look, let's go. We need to catch them up. Leave the horse here with the dog" he muttered, pulling her off the ground. Arrow brushed of her purple dress and ran off with Ringmaster.

"By the way, he's NOT a dog"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Riley was starting to lose his energy. He dived and dodged each of Ember's attacks but he being forced to use his own energy to deflect hers. It was all coming back on him though. Worse still, Ember had found herself some backup. Another girl was attacking him from every side, somehow evading his sight. Even in the dark, he was still losing. Riley jumped back again as an energy beam hit his feet. In response, Riley shot a beam back, though it cost him. Riley stumbled backwards, his vision turning white.

'No…I'm going to pass out…I can't win…'

"Riley!" a voice shot out from his left. The red haired man perked up, turning his head round. His assailants stopped too, turning to see who the newcomer was. From the dim light, Riley could still make out the shape of young, but scrawny boy with a black spiky haircut. He smiled with such relief "Seether!" he yelled out. The wolf boy smiled in return "you okay? Doesn't matter, I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore"

"Not you again!" Blind Spot growled. Seether growled and lashed out. His appearance changed instantly to that of a dark furred wolf. As Riley was entrance with the battle between Blind Spot and Seether, Ember took this chance and shot another bolt of energy straight at the red haired teen. Riley didn't react quickly and was knocked out by the blinding energy. Seether directed a few more lashes at Blind Spot until he saw the red haired teen fall, unconscious. "RILEY!"

The wolf boy changed his appearance and ran over to him, kneeling down and holding him in his arms "wake up! We're gonna get caught if you-". He was cut off as Blind Spot pulled up behind him a whacked him round the head. He growled threateningly at her. This caught her off guard though she didn't have to worry. Before the wolf bot could attack he became tangled in a mass of thorned vines. Blind Spot turned around to her saviour and sighed when she saw a bloodied Ringmaster standing there. With the young justice team behind him. Before Superboy could whack him and Arrow on the head though he was stopped by none other than Kid Flash.

"Whoa dude, calm down! We got one of the subjects right here" he gestured to the small, inky boy next to him, who simply waved. Superboy grumbled but stepped back. The rest of them looked at Red Arrow for guidance.

"…It looks unlikely we'll get the others, we'd better leave" Aqualad said for him. He knew Red Arrow would want to fight but it wouldn't. HE was just suggesting the best course of action. The rest complied (along with Red Arrow) and followed behind, as Robin found an escape route, which happened to be the window in Seether's room.

Behind the scene, the Seasons were also leaving, until someone happen to notice a certain 'twin brother' hurting a poor, innocent test subject.

"TROY!" Mysteria yelled furiously, bashing him in the side. She decided to use her backup power, which negated his power. The two scrambled and scratched at each other angrily. As they did, they both shouted instructions to their teammates.

"You three! Get Stryke out, I'll be right behind you!"  
>"Blind Spot! Make your name useful and get that cute red haired boy!"<p>

Seether snarled "Cute? Only I'm allowed to call him cute!". The wolf boy rushed forward. Mysteria got out of the way just in time, pulling Ringmaster with her. She took this moment of confusion to escape along with the rest of her team. During this time, Blind Spot had already snuck through everyone's blind spot and retrieved the unconscious Riley. Since Mysteria had left, Ringmaster had regained his power. The wolf boy who had tried to maul him was now wrapped in harsh rose thorned vines. He knelt down to meet his animalistic eyes.

"Sorry wolfy, but I'm afraid you're just not my type" he said with a smirk.

"Arrow! Call your-" he was interrupted by a neigh of a horse "horse. Put the subject on the horse and we'll leave. Ember, give me a full report of him on the way"

"I said before, don't tell me what to do"

Ringmaster gave her a warning look as they left. Seether was left alone in the hallway, bleeding from the thorns, and heartbroken for losing Riley.

"Riley…I won't let them hurt you" he promised himself. He grinned and howled. The vines bounding his body were torn apart in a matter of seconds. Seether got up easily and growled "I'll find you Riley…I'll take you from my prey"

**And that's that! Sorry if I got lazy towards the end! But…**

**What's going to happen to the test subjects? What's Seether going to do to get Riley? Will everything be okay? Just wait to find out! (hope you liked it!)**


	8. Chapter 8 1st Week Back

**Next chapter! Hope you like!**

It was midday, yet the sun wasn't blazing. It had been only a week since the infiltration at Cadmus, yet the weather had changed drastically. Chilled breezes howled and tore down the streets of London, desperately holding back any passers-by. Along the ground lay blankets of thick, glistening snow (some of which were lined with unusually large paw prints). It was about mid-February, and this kind of weather was nothing new for the tough London residents. One in particular was currently trudging through the streets, with her ever faithful partner.

'Freakingwinter weather' Lauren Valintine thought to herself. She was atop yet another one of her horses. This one was a black Friesian, and a large one at that with a gorgeous white star on its nose. This actually was the reason for its name, which happened to be Star. The brown haired rider stroked the horse's nose affectionately as it trotted down the street. It was unusual for her to ride in public but it was the easiest way for her to access the circus tent this way. Since she was in public, she had her civilian clothes on. This mainly consisted of a pair of jeans which were ripped in several places (for fashion purposes), a pair of scuffed grey lace up boots and a black long sleeved top which kept her warm during this cold wind. Her arrow tattoo seemed to peek just from the hem of the shirt by her shoulder. Even her horse Star had a warm, thick white blanket which Lauren sat upon. Alongside her, Dagger trudged faithfully. Snowflakes were collecting in his dark fur.

The cold winds picked up and whipped her brown locks around her face, getting in the way of her eyes. As she brushed them away, she soon realised she had arrived at her destination. The circus tent looked as bright and elegant as ever, even like a beacon in this harsh weather. It was quite a warming sight which was quickly interrupted as a girl appeared suddenly in Lauren's face.

"What the hell!" Lauren exclaimed loudly, and in surprise. She always forgot about how Ali could affect her blind spot like that.

"It's just me; I could see and hear that horse from a mile away. Now get inside, I've been stuck standing here on watch for you in the cold just because Troy wanted to be with that red haired guy, and Kira refused" Ali complained to Lauren as they both wandered to the tent. She was also in her civvies, since now she was Alia Saleb, not Blind Spot. Like Laure, she also was wearing a pair of grey ripped jeans, black boots and a white tank top, which wasn't very practical for this weather. Nothing more was said between the two as they both entered the tent.

As they did enter, they were met with the familiar sight of the tent. Kira Cortez was at on the edge of the stage, fiddling with something that looked like a phone. Like the other two, her clothes were normal. Her outfit consisted of dark blue skinny-jeans, black long sleeved leather jacket with the hem above her waist which she wore over her red tank top, with a pair of flat black ankle boots on her feet. She also looked a lot warmer as well. As Lauren dismounted her horse, stroking her nose as she did, Kira turned round. She dropped the phone she was fiddling with and jumped from the stage.

"So you actually turned up? Finally, Troy was starting to get moody" She said dryly to Lauren. She gave her a stuck up look in return.

"For your information, I was tending to my horses. In this weather they need a lot of care, and I didn't want to strain my precious Star and Dagger…"

Before Lauren could say any more she received a punch in the arm from Ali.

"Oh shut up about your horses already" she said in an annoyed tone.

Lauren growled, then whipped round and gave her a punch in return. Ali stood her ground a raised her fists; Lauren did the same. Kira sighed and shot a small thunderbolt and them both. All three girls got riled up then and gave each other warning looks, but before a fight could break out they were all interrupted a crack of a vine whip, followed by a smooth voice.

"Ladies, ladies. There is no need to fight here, besides which you are scaring our guest" Troy said a somewhat melodic but creepy voice, as he descended from the ceiling from one of his vines. The girls turned round to greet him. Strangely, Troy was dressed in normal clothing. He was wearing an evanescence band t-shirt on top of a pair of dark blue jeans and white trainers. On his left shoulder, a red rose tattoo could be seen easily. Even so, he was still able to keep the same elegance of the infamous 'Troy Rosen Harken', complete with the same sadistic smile.

"Well, seems we all turned up in the end ladies, though I'm not surprised your late Lauren. Off the track again were we?" he said to Lauren accusingly. She just huffed.

"In any case, that cute red head we got last night has been rather…unresponsive" he sighed. Kira snorted at this comment.

"Yeah, that's probably because you've been making inappropriate advances on him, that's not really helping" she said straight to him. Lauren giggled and Ali raised an eyebrow. Troy just grinned evilly.

"What? He liked it, I know. Speaking of him, Kira can you go and get him?" He ordered.

"Not gonna happen Rosie" she said stubbornly.

"Fine, you get him Ali. He's just at the back, cowering" he said to Ali instead. She mumbled but complied in the end. A few moments passed before Ali came back. She had a firm grip on Riley's arm. He was violently shaking out of fear; his hair was messed up all over his face. Sheer terror was evident in his green eyes. Ali dropped him next to Troy and went back to standing next to Lauren.

"Well then, how are feeling love?" He said soothingly (but sadistically), stroking his cheek. Riley didn't respond; he merely shook and whimpered. A few sparks came from his hands. Troy smirked and turned to the girls.

"Now, down to business. Anything new?"

Dagger nuzzled Lauren's leg. Her face lit up suddenly.

"Oh yeah! Have you heard about the London Werewolf?"

'London Werewolf?' Riley thought to himself. His breath caught in his chest. 'Oh no'

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Back at Laker's Café, the Seasons were once again gathered. Well, all but Jayden. Bruno and Stevie were sat at one of the downstairs tables. They were both dressed in their same clothes as their last visit to the café. Lys was there too, but she was at the counter, wiping down some of the mugs with an irritated look, her coal black hair getting in the way. The owner of the café, Jared Laker, wasn't around himself; he seemed to have left it to Lys today (as he knew of their meeting). No-one said anything in the awkward silence. The only noises were the howling winter wind outside and the sips of the coffee. A new noise was added to this at the bell on the door rang, signifying the entrance of two more 'customers'. Jayden hopped through the door with a spring in her step. Lafayette Ray cautiously followed behind. They both sat down with Bruno and Stevie at the table. Lys hurriedly finished up her cleaning, threw off her apron, grabbed a newspaper off the side and sat down with them. Jayden chuckled.

"What?" Lys asked her irritably.

"You're still wearing the name tag" She pointed out. Lys grumbled and took off the plastic badge on her chest. After doing so, she coughed and turned back to group.

"Okay, since we are all here, we can now finally welcome our new friend and hopeful ally, Miss Lafayette Ray" Lys said grandly, nodding the former test subject. She seemed to be surveying her surroundings, taking in the size and decor of the café, as well as the looks and supposed strengths of the four others in the room.

"So, Lafayette, you've been staying with Jayden right?" Steve asked kindly.

"Yes…" was the response.

"Have you been settling in well?"

"…Not really. How the hell am I supposed to trust you?" The former subject said coldly. Bruno decided to speak up.

"We did help you after all" he said calmly "if you could just be more cooperative-"

"Yeah, nice help. You drop in out of nowhere, destroy the place and then expect me to willingly go with you. Interesting plan" Lafayette huffed, crossing her arms. Lys started to lose her cool.

"Bruno's right, you could be a bit more appreciative considering we saved your freaking life!" She growled angrily, though Stevie held her back.

"Lys…"

"Don't you 'Lys' me!"

Shouting followed this, then a full blown argument. Thankfully, it was all interrupted by a gunshot, which got everyone quiet. Jayden sighed and lowered her gun.

"Jeez, calm down everyone, I thought we were supposed to be making her welcome" she said, lowering her gun. Everyone in the room sweat dropped.

"The gun wasn't really necessary…" Stevie muttered. Lys just didn't know what to say. Bruno shuffled uncomfortably. Lafayette raised an eyebrow and mumbled

"You've got guts…cool"

Silence followed again. After sometime, Lys pulled out the newspaper she'd taken from the counter.

"I just remembered, I wanted to show you something. I have my suspicions about this" she said, holding up the paper.

"Curse of the London Werewolf" Bruno read aloud "…wait! You don't think-"

"I do"

Lafayette looked at the article worriedly.

'So he got out? Good luck'

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

An awkward silence filled the cave. Flick stood there, right in front of the whole team PLUS Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter yet he still wouldn't say a word. No-one quite knew what to do. The young boy just stood there, emotionless spare a look of dislike towards Superboy every now and again which confused him. Everyone looked to Batman for help but even he seemed at loss with his unresponsive subject. Eventually, Artemis spoke up much to everyone's relief.

"So…you're the subject that the guys rescued? Pretty cool" she commented. He didn't look impressed.

"Not really. I've been stuck in a cramped white cell for several months, with barely any food and water, topped with being tortured just about every day. Not cool, just painful" he said quite bluntly.

"Man, he sure has a lot to say" Superboy whispered to Miss Martian.

"I heard that, also a superman logo? Really? Lame"

"What!" Superboy growled.

"Yeah, Superman is lame…but I do think superheroes are cool" he said kind of sheepishly. Robin took this chance to talk to him.

"Really? So…what kind of superheroes do you like?" he asked, hoping to get common ground.

"Well, I think Batman is pretty cool, and Green Arrow" Flick said, looking up at said superheroes in the room. Robin grinned.

"Cool!"

"I guess…" he started "you guys weren't so bad yourself" Flick complimented to the team. Artemis huffed 'that could have been me'.

"That's good to know" Black Canary piped in "if you're that interested in superheroes then would you be possibly be interested in becoming an ally with us for now? You are not the only subject left to rescue if you remember" she asked hopefully. The young former subject thought about this for a brief moment before answering.

"…Sure, why not?" he answered bluntly. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Batman interrupted the moment however.

"Very well. I have some information on a possible new mission for the team" he spoke unemotionally as usual. The dark hero pulled up some images on the screen.

"Early this week, London has been receiving attacks from an unknown beast which has been labelled the 'London Werewolf' ".

Flick looked at the all too familiar image on the screen and silently gasped.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The harsh winter streets of London did not bother the scrawny, heartbroken young boy trudging them alone. He dressed in nothing more than a simple t-shirt and short trousers. Seether didn't care for the cold at this point. He had his arms crossed, trying to preserve what little body warmth he had.

'So cold…' the voices in his head kept saying. He just ignored them. 'You know, it would be so much warmer with Riley…". He stopped…and smiled sadly.

"…Riley, I hope you're keeping warm right now" he chuckled weakly. Silence followed the moment. "Riley…I still haven't found you; I've checked nearly all of London now. No matter how many people I go through you're still not there" he mumbled sadly. He continued walking for a little longer until he stepped in a thinner part of snow. Confused, Seether looked down and realised there were horse tracks in the snow. With nowhere else to go, he followed them.

After several hours of following the tracks, the wolf boy came to an old circus tent.

"What the…" his ears pricked up. His instincts kicked in as he heard an all too familiar scream.

"No way…"

Seether held his hand over his heart and smiled.

**And there! Might have got a bit lazy with this chapter, but oh well!**

**What has Seether stumbled on now? What is this news of the London Werewolf? Will the subjects ever settle into the new teams? Stay tuned to find out!**


	9. Chapter 9 Reunions And Rallys

**Sorry if this chapter took so long, my laptop has been screwing me around. Also, I've had writers block but in the end I finished it! So enjoy!**

**Note: If you're enjoying my story then look up another Young Justice fanfic 'Wasteland' by Spawn Of Hades, which is set before this. I would highly recommend it! It explains Riley's and Seether's relationship better!**

Kira hit Riley in the arm again.

"Stop screaming, I shocked you once so don't be a baby" she scolded. A couple of pained tears ran down Riley's cheeks. He lowered his head and sniffled. He was truly scared right now. All he wanted right now was to actually be back in his cell he shared with Seether. It was true that he loved the older wolf boy, but there were good reasons for that. He promised to protect Riley through their time together. 'I thought you loved me Seether…so where are you?'.

"Stop ignoring me!" Kira said, giving Riley another shock in the arm. Lauren giggled evilly. Ali sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I think he's had enough Kira, let him go"

Troy placed a hand on Kira's shoulder.

"Ali is right, that's enough torture" he said calmly, looking the red haired teen straight in the eyes. Riley gulped as Troy smirked.

"I'd rather keep my prize in good condition thank you very much" he noted. The villainous man grabbed Riley's chin between his thumb and forefinger. He softly stroked the underside of his chin. Riley's breath caught in his throat; he shivered at every touch, but only out of fear.

"You're so cute you know" he whispered. Troy slowly leaned his face forward, closing his emerald eyes as Riley's widened. Troy's lips almost reached that of his captive's, until he was interrupted by a low growl from behind.

"Put...down…my…Riley"

Troy let go of the shivering man, who breathed a great sigh of relief, and turned to see who was interrupting their 'tender' moment. He was met with the sight of a large, black, VERY angry wolf. Lauren was heard to mutter 'London Werewolf' under her breath. Everyone reacted quickly. Ali pulled out a throwing knife, Kira generated energy in her hands ready, Lauren mounted her horse and Troy grew but one vine.

"Your Riley?" Lauren asked the stranger.

"Yes my Riley, and if you don't give him back you're seriously gonna regret it" Seether threatened the villains. He then turned to Riley and gave him a comforting smile. Riley returned it with a look that said 'thank you for coming back'.

"Alright, enough fooling. Get rid of this freak already!" Troy yelled angrily. Lauren laughed.

"Gladly!"

With that, Lauren's horse pounded forward and rammed Seether straight in the stomach. The wolf shook it off and swatted the horse to one side. Lauren reacted immediately and leapt out of the way but as soon as the horse fell she gasped and rushed to its side. Dagger reacted instead for his mistress. He launched himself and latched himself to Seether's arm with his teeth. While the boy was distracted with this, Ali took the chance and invaded his blind spot. She ran forward and plunged one of her knives into his other arm. Troy also joined in and wrapped and thorned vine around the wolf boy's body, ensnaring him. Riley at this point had snuck around to the back of Seether where Kira had placed herself. In his helpless state she was ready to finish him off. The bold villainess put out her hands. They sparked with pure energy and with that she launched a fearsome thunderbolt straight at her target. Seether was unable to anything about the thunderbolt; he could only turn before being met with a blinding light. He was also met with an emotional shock as he saw yet another thunderbolt from a different direction which counteracted the other, merely causing a bright and long lasting flash. Dagger let go of Seether's arm, as did Ali who pulled out her knife and stumbled backwards. Lauren, who was going to attack, shielded her eyes. Troy retracted his vine immediately, freeing Seether.

This chance was not wasted. Seether felt a tug on his arm and followed the person who was pulling him out of the building during the distraction. As the light faded, Troy cursed angrily when he saw that both his captive and play toy had disappeared along with the irritating 'guest'. Lauren went to get up but Troy kicked out of irritation. Lauren started to yell at him and a full blown argument broke out. Ali and Kira just stood by wearily, annoyed that they lost, but also annoyed by the arguing twosome.

Outside the tent in the cold snow, two weary teens trudged tiredly. One was tucked comfortably under the other's arm for warmth. A small smile was evident on his face.

"You saved me back there didn't you?" Seether asked his red haired companion. Riley looked up with an innocent face.

"Um…yes, I just saw her…trying to kill you and, well I couldn't just let her" he stuttered from the cold. Seether chuckled.

"Thank you"

"No…thank you for coming back for me"

The two young men stopped in the middle of the snow. Slowly, but with care, Seether leaned his face towards Riley's and finished what Troy didn't get. Amidst the harsh, blurry snow you could still the two together, in such a sweet embrace of a kiss.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"This isn't going anywhere" Jayden huffed. Stevie nodded in agreement.

The seasons were all still sat around the table in the café together with their laboratory guest Lafayette. Not much progress was being made in the way of convincing her to join the team. They were pretty much running out of ideas. Bruno was now just sitting there, creating small flickers of fire then extinguishing them. Stevie looked bored, Lys was tapping her fingers on the table and Jayden was examining the gun she had fired only moments ago. It was pretty much silent aside from the one statement from Jayden. However this silence was soon interrupted by the dull ringing of a bell. Every head turned the door, where a middle aged dark haired man sauntered in. This happened to be the café owner, Jared Laker. They all watched as he wandered over to the counter. Lys got up out of her seat and walked over next to him. A worried look washed over her face as she noticed how sombre he mood was. She turned her head and nodded to Stevie who understood and calmed his mood.

"Ah jeez, sorry for that" Jared spoke. His voice was quite raspy and low, much like the voice of someone who had smoked one too many cigarettes.

"Not at all" Lys responded "what's the problem?"

"Well…you see, I was stopped just now on the streets by some guy and a gal in white coats…"

The words 'white coats' made Lafayette stop and spin round.

"…and they asked me whether I'd seen some young teens. Said they were from some big children's home they were overseeing"

"Did they give any pictures? Or a phone number?" Bruno asked him. Jared scratched the back of his head.

"Uh…yeah they gave me a card" he said. The burly café owner reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a white card which he handed to Bruno.

"Dr Alan. Steven's Children Association"

"That's obviously fake" Jayden piped in. Lafayette suddenly looked quite uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Stevie asked her comfortingly.

"That card is most definitely fake. Dr Alan…is the head scientist at Cadmus" she explained. Jared Laker looked confused.

"Cadmus? Is that that fancy high tech place you lot been talking 'bout breaking into?" he asked. Lys nodded.

"It is" she turned to the former subject "go on"

"He was the one who had the experiment s conducted on us. He's basically a monster to all of us" she continued.

"What about the woman?" Bruno asked.

Lafayette thought for a second before asking "that was probably that new scientist, Professor Stevens" she answered. The room filled with an awkward silence.

"So these guys are back after you them" Jayden said sombrely.

"By the looks of things. Now do you understand why we broke you out of that place? We're trying to protect you! Why don't you freakin' get that?" Lys said in her usual cold voice.

"What she means is that for the sake of your safety it would probably be beneficial for you to join us for now so we can finish this war with Cadmus once and for all…so what do you say?" Stevie explained.

The former test subject looked round the table, one by one to each person's face. She calculated her thoughts and made a final decision.

"…fine, but only until I find the others" she replied. Stevie smiled; Lys huffed. Bruno sighed in relief.

Jayden grinned "Oh yeah! New member!"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The team were all sat together in the lounge with Flick. Somehow, they had convinced this quiet, unemotional young teen to join them for now. Wally and Artemis were sat together on the floor by the table. Conner and M'gann were also together but on the sofa. Roy was leaning on the wall, his arms crossed. Zatanna looked at him from the sofa witch mild wonder but her train of thought was broken by Robin who nudged her in the arm. Kaldur was stood next to Roy as well. Flick himself was sat on the other side of Zatanna on the sofa. Once again an awkward silence filled the room which was once again broken by Artemis thankfully.

"Well…I guess we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Artemis, this idiot here is Wally"

"Aww"

"I'm Megan! This is Conner" M'gann said cheerily. Conner grunted.

"Hey there! I'm Robin!"

"And I'm Zatanna!" they both said with a little wave.

"I am Kaldur'am" he said courteously, walking over "and this is Roy Harper" he said. Gesturing to the sullen red haired man stood away from them.

"Yeah yeah, whatever" Flick mumbled.

Everyone's face just went deadpan. He was so awkward to deal with.

"So, um…what do you like doing?" Zatanna asked him kindly, hoping to get a good reaction.

"Blowing stuff up, setting things alight" he answered.

"That's…nice"

"…I also like comic books" she said quietly. Wally jumped in on the chance.

"Really? sweet! I've got a huge collection at home" he said excitedly.

"Same…well back where I had a home" the young boy said rather bluntly.

Flick and Wally suddenly broke into quite heated conversation about the best comics they have. Everyone else went. They had a look of sympathy on their faces, except for Flick's which was expressionless still. Roy silently signalled Kaldur over to him whilst the others were talking. The dark skinned hero complied and walked over.

"I don't trust him" Roy whispered.

"That does not matter right now. Our main priority is to keep this boy safe until we retrieve the other three subjects" Kaldur said in the boy's defence. Roy huffed.

"Yeah okay, but I still don't trust him"

Everyone's conversations were suddenly interrupted by a strong, female voice.

"Everyone, we need to talk" Black Canary announced to them.

"About what?" Robin asked.

"About him"

Everyone looked at the elephant in the room. Flick looked around at everyone.

"What?"

**Might have got a bit lazy there at the end, but at least it's done! Hope you like it!**


	10. Chapter 10 When Everything Shatters

**Sorry this took so long, but I've been really busy with another fanfic of mine plus exams! (by the way, italics mean a flashback)**

**Nonetheless, enjoy!**

The villains sat around together in the circus tent, in silent tension. They were all dressed again in their crime committing clothes. They had all just returned from an attempted bank robbery not far from their base. However, it had only been a partial success, only escaping with just under £1000 which Troy kept on his person. No-one was in a good mood. It had been a month since the whole 'losing their captive' fiasco. Since then, the makeshift team had disbanded which Troy had announced in his rage. All four of them during their free time had been searching for the two test subjects, hoping to prove that their initial capture plan hadn't been a failure. So far, none of them had turned up anything useful. After some time, Kira had convinced Troy to pull The Renegades back together, saying he should 'suck up his failure and move on', followed by a few more insults and a whipping from Troy. Unfortunately, Kira's idea hadn't quite worked.

"Well that was an epic fail, and the place was filthy as hell" Ali said disgustedly.

"You're the one whose power failed!" Kira spat at her.

"Camera's don't have blind spots! Besides, Arrow was supposed to disable the cameras! Where the hell was she?" Ali remarked angrily. All eyes were on Lauren, who was currently brushing the dark brown mane of her current horse. It was a Red Bay Mustang, though strangely it had three black hooves and one white. Lauren could be heard to mutter the name 'Jester' to it. Troy snarled and whacked her with a vine.

"Stop that! It's because of those stupid horses that you keep failing us!" Troy scolded. Lauren whipped her head round immediately and shot him a dark look. Ali raised an eyebrow at Troy.

'Idiot' she thought. If there was one thing that Ali had learnt about Lauren, it was never to insult her horses. Ever.

"What did you just say?" Lauren growled. Troy huffed and made himself look mighty.

"You never listen to my orders. Even Kira listens to me more than you do" He remarked smoothly. He look surprised though as she got up to face him.

"Maybe you'd better stop giving me orders and actually listen to me for once! I can't function well without my horses, so shut up and leave them alone!" Lauren screamed at him. She took a few deep, heavy breaths. Ali placed a hand on her shoulder as if to say 'calm down'.

"You know, you are rather controlling" Kira commented.

Troy snapped.

Several thorned vines grew on Troy's body. In a flash, they were all launched straight at Lauren in a flurry of sharpness. Thankfully, Lauren's reflexes aided her well, as she was able to dodge each vine and land herself safely next to Ali. Troy was stood next to Kira now.

"Use your electricity! Stun her now" He ordered Kira, who shook her head in response.

"Really? You're giving me orders?" She replied. Troy went to attack her as well but was met with a kick to the head from Lauren's horse, Jester. Lauren sat atop it, wielding a large metal hula hoop in one hand and a heavy looking juggling baton in the other. The thorned villain got himself up and attacked again, but was met with a blow to the head by the baton. As he stumbled backwards, Lauren launched the hoop, which encircled him and knocked him to the ground. Lauren grinned evilly. With a click of her fingers, Dagger was immediately on him, tearing at his abdomen with teeth and claws whilst Troy struggled and screamed. Ali and Kira looked horrified. Ali ran over and slapped Lauren.

"What the hell!" She yelled in her face "Are you trying to kill him?"

Lauren sighed and called back her wolf. Dagger reluctantly complied and slinked back over to his master. The fallen villain groaned, clutching his bleeding at his bleeding stomach. Kira reacted immediately and rushed to his aid. Ali shot Lauren a warning and joined her.

"Troy? Are you okay? Say something! Don't ignore me!" Kira shouted at the injured man. He responded, spitting blood and croaked out an innocent 'help me' before passing out. Everyone's (but Lauren's) breath caught in their throat. They were relieved as the rise and fall of Troy's breath in his chest continued.

"There should be some bandages back where that Riley kid was held, go get them Ali" Kira ordered. She complied and rushed off to get them. Slowly, the dark haired girl by Troy's side turned to Lauren's face.

"As for you, you'd better leave before you cause any more trouble" she spat. It sounded like more of a warning then a threat. The horse lover simply stuck up her nose and rode out of the place.

'I'll show them, I can find these subjects with the use of my horses. I don't need The Renegades, only them' Lauren thought, stroking Jester's nose and glancing at Dagger.

'Yes, only them'

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

It had been a month now since Lafayette, or as she was more commonly known now 'Stryke', had joined the team. The Seasons had put finding the test subjects on a temporary hold. Instead, they started focusing on keeping Stryke out of the way of the scientists. Since that day, she started accompanying them on missions under the codename 'Stryke'. She had found temporary residence with Jayden but also worked part time with Lys in the café, as well as training (less harshly) with Bruno and Stevie. She was very sceptical and unsure about joining with them but in all honesty she had no-where else to go. Even so, she kept a very close watch on all four of them. She also rarely fought when on missions, usually just standing behind and watching, maybe occasionally smiling as yet another useless minion was taken down.

Today was another one of those days. Mysteria, Motion, Burnout, Gun Slinger and Stryke had all gathered by a large burning building. Jayden seemed to be itching to get to it.

"Alright! Civilians to save, let's go!" She said, pulling out her guns and aiming to go, but was held back by Motion. Stryke shook her head and sighed.

"We need to go through the plan first" Motion said to her.

"Then you can shoot things" Burnout assured her. They all turned to Mysteria.

"Alright, we'll let Burnout enter first. He can manipulate the flames to create and safe path for the rest of us to enter. Gun Slinger, I want you to scan the rooms, and then shoot the windows to create escape routes. Stryke, I want you to destroy any obstacles that prevent us from movement. Motion and I will handle the civilians. Has everyone got that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Right, then let's go!"

Everyone set the plan into motion. Stryke went first, extracting the bones from her arms (with some pain) and slicing the door in half to gain access to the building. Burnout followed in after, directing the flames away to create an access route for the other three. Mysteria and Stryke headed off in one direction, Motion, Gun Slinger and Burnout the other.

Mysteria found several locked rooms (which Stryke helped her gain entrance to), finding several civilians inside. Despite her attitude, she was able to lead them out of the burning rooms. Motion had also found several terrified civilians. She calmed them all down through the use of her power. Gun Slinger had taken to her job of creating escape routes, choosing suitable windows and, well, destroying them. Burnout kept close by ready for the both of them when they came. Both Mysteria and Motion arrived eventually, bringing the civilians with them.

"What shall I do with them?" The male hero asked the flaming girls in front of him.

"Manipulate the flames; take them down to the entrance. We'll take other routes" Motion ordered him. Burnout complied and took the terrified people down with him. Motion turned to her friend.

"Right then, shall we get out of here?...wait where's Stryke?" she asked. Mysteria whipped round.

"Hey! You looking for Laf? I saw her escaping through a window by the back" Gun Slinger yelled. Mysteria turned back to her.

"Okay then, you found some windows?"

Gun Slinger nodded. All three of them went to the room. Mysteria and Motion stepped back. Gun Slinger then pulled out one of her trademark weapons, aimed and fired at the window. The bullet pierced the glass, shattering it to tiny pieces, making a large and empty gap for them to go through. Mysteria jumped first, creating a long, shadowy rope which she used to abseil down the side of the building. Gun Slinger offered Motion to go first but she refused.

"I can't, you need to go first"

"Oh yeah!"

With that, the expert marksman stepped into the window frame, took a deep breath and back flipped out towards the ground. She landed gracefully on her feet without a hint of pain. Motion took in all the movements then replicated the same move. As she landed, she turned to see only three other people.

"Where's Stryke?" She asked. That's when said subject came running round the corner, panting.

"What happened to you?" Gun Slinger asked. Motion went up and placed a hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

"Tell us" Mysteria said bluntly. Stryke took a deep breath and told them.

_Stryke leapt down from the window of the building and landed in the back alley area. She jumped however as an old, croaking voice rang out from the darkness_

"_I thought I'd find you here 005" _

_Stryke whipped round, holding up one of the blades on her arm. Out from the shadows, her worst nightmare revealed itself. A demon in a white coat._

"_Come now, I don't want to fight, I simply want to bring you back to the lab" he sickeningly assured her. Slowly, the white coated man stepped forward, almost like a predator cornering its prey. Stryke did only what she could in this situation, though she didn't mind considering it was a man she hated. She lashed out her arm, slicing at the man's frail skin. In the confusion she ran round the side of the building, hoping the other four were there._

"Dr Alan was there?" Burnout remarked. Mysteria didn't speak but reacted. She pulled at everyone and got them running fast, away from the building. They couldn't let that man catch them.

He was almost as creepy as The Ringmaster.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"Hey Flicky! Would you like some gum?" The speedster asked the young boy, just as he was speeding past his room. 'Flicky' shot him a dirty look as if to say 'No way idiot!'. Wally looked disheartened (and a little frightened), so he left the boy alone to read his comics. It wasn't Wally's fault, Flick was just sick of having to chew gum all day while he had scientists poking and taking blood from him. Since their little 'talk' with Black Canary and the others, Flick had taken to holing himself up in his room.

"_The league is not sure if we are able to trust you Flick" Black Canary announced softly. She was sat down with the rest of them in the recreation room, in front of the others. All eyes were on Flick._

"_Why?" he asked bluntly, but deep down there was a hint of nervousness._

"_Because of some startling information that has been found on you" she replied. Turning to the television, she pulled up several images on the screen. Four of these were faces of one old man, two scientists and a young boy. Flick shifted uncomfortably._

"_Flick, we have reason to believe you killed these four men…"  
>"I didn't kill Kiba!" Flick yelled angrily. Everyone looked shocked. The quite little subject hadn't spoken out before. It was certainly unusual and worrying considering what he had just been accused of.<em>

_Flick regained his composure but still didn't look happy._

"_Flick, did you kill them?" Black Canary asked soothingly, but with concern mixed in. Flick looked up at her, then pointed a finger to the young boy on the screen._

"_Kiba was my best friend. We lived on the streets together, eating strawberries, scavenging for water and new places to sleep. He took care of me"_

_His finger trailed to the old man._

"_Then he came along. He beat me and Kiba, but he got it worse. I was hurt but I didn't care because Kiba was alive…then that guy killed him. He meant to kill me but…Kiba put himself in the way…I was so angry…upset…I didn't know what to do…I just lashed out…then he was dead"_

_Black Canary shook her head. M'gann sniffled, suppressing a tear._

"_Flick…"_

"_Kiba wanted me to help people, that didn't really go to plan"_

_His finger trailed over to the scientists this time._

"_I stowed away on a boat out of Romania, but someone took me to that place. I remember, after getting those powers I was busted out by these guys. I thought I was saved. Next thing I know I'm being cut open and bled into jars. It was painful, but I knew how to get myself out of there…so I controlled them and made them shoot each other" Flick explained, rounding off his story._

_Silence filled the room for a long amount of time. Black Canary decided to speak up._

"_Flick…you know you just admitted to killing three people"_

"_IT WAS SELF DEFENCE" he yelled. With that, the 13 year old stormed out of the room. No-one had gone after him._

Flick suddenly heard a couple voices outside his door. He snuck over to the door and decided to listen. He could hear two female voices, which sounded like M'gann and Zatanna.

"We need to do something about Flick" Zatanna noted.

"Well, we have to help him. He's not happy, that's for sure" M'gann said sadly.

"He always looks so happy when he's sleeping though, with all his strange ink monsters sleeping around him"

"But I've heard him screaming in the middle of the night. When I go to comfort him, he just denies it, shoves me out and goes back to sleep. Superboy doesn't bother helping him; Flick doesn't seem to like him

"We need to make him happy somehow…wait, I have an idea!"

"What is it?"

Zatanna held out her hands, bowl of strawberries

"Seirrebwarts fo lwob!" she casted. M'gann smiled.

"That will do it"

Flick jumped back to his bed and picked up a comic as he heard someone approaching his room. However, he lit up as he saw Zatanna enter the room with a bowl of strawberries for him.

"You did say you and Kiba liked to eat strawberries"

For the first time in ages, Flick properly smiled.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Seether brushed off some dust from the beside counter and sighed. He and Riley had been travelling together for some time now. They had both gotten very close; you could even call them lovers. They both spent their time together trying to stay undercover, hiding from the scientists, The Renegades and whoever else might be after them. Even so, Seether always tried to find the best motels and inns for Riley to sleep in. He wanted his precious Riley to still enjoy his life. However, he had sort of failed this time round, scoring a room in a dusty old run down motel. The wolf boy turned to the red haired teen lying on the bed.

"Do you like the room Riley? I know I couldn't get the best this time, but I'm a little skint on money right now" he said to his companion. Riley nodded sheepishly.

"It's okay…"

"Just okay?" Seether asked him tensely. Riley picked up on this and hugged him.

"It's fine! It's perfect, as long as you're here with me Seether" he said in his soft little voice. Riley tilted his head up to the older teen. Seether chuckled.

"Riley, you are so damn cute sometimes"

With that, he leaned down slowly and placed a soft, but loving kiss on Riley's sweet lips. The red haired teen blushed instantly but leaned in and held on to the kiss for a little while longer. After some time they both had to pull away for air. Both the men looked at each for a few moments before Seether pulled away and began to strip of his clothing. Riley blushed slightly but kept calm. After throwing off his clothes, Seether shifted into a large, dark wolf and lay down on the bed. Riley smiled and lay down too, resting his head on the wolf's strong abdomen. However, Riley just couldn't get settle, as he heard a strange but familiar sound of a horses hooves on concrete. The wolf could sense his discomfort and so got up to check out the window.

The two young men were met with a familiar two sets of eyes. From below, they looked straight into the eyes of an almost innocent young person and their animal companion. Likewise, they were met with the same. The only reason Riley shuddered as he saw the stranger was because of the tattoo visible on their shoulder.

The tattoo of an arrow.

**Well there you have it! A dramatic story for the Renegades and Seasons, a sad little story for Flick, a loving little piece for Riley and Seether and a cliff-hanger to finish it all off!**

**Wait and see to find out what will happen next!**


	11. Chapter 11 To Reminisce

**Okay, next chapter! This is probably my longest yet!**

It was all silent in the tent now. Kira sat on the edge of the stage with an expressionless face. In front of her Troy lay resting, his red tailcoat being used as a blanket, his boots as a pillow. Ali sat on the floor behind him, watching carefully the rise and fall of his chest to ensure he was still breathing.

Luckily, Ali had been able to gather the bandages in time and with Kira's help was able to treat and bandage what could have been a fatal wound. Unfortunately, Troy had lost much blood in the process and at this moment in time was incredibly weak. A little blood was still seeping through the white layers around his stomach; Ali kept adding a few more layers. Kira just watched with no words. The tension was awkward. Ali looked up to her sullen teammate.

"What's eating you?" she asked dryly. Kira shot her a dark look.

"Shut it"

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Ali said with a raised voice, standing up to tower over Kira. The other female stood up too, generating energy in her fists. The two exchanged dark looks, but stopped as they heard Troy groan and turn uncomfortably in his makeshift bed. Both of them looked at him, then each other and stood down. Ali went and placed herself next to Kira on the stage. Kira shuffled a tad away.

"No point in fighting now" Ali admitted in defeat.

"Yeah"

"It's funny, I always hated becoming a failure, but with Troy down for the count I find myself giving up"

Kira mused over what Ali said.

"He did…kinda help bring this team together" she admitted "I still remember how we got this team together"

"How?" Ali asked. Kira breathed in and began her story.

"I used to part of a large family back in Mexico, I had about 20 siblings-"

"20!" Ali exclaimed.

"Yes 20, but when I was only 10 I left all that. They would just ignore me"

Kira fiddled with a piece of technology.

"Since then I started roaming the streets of big cities. I must have been about 12 when I joined that gang. We got know for all kinds of things: Mugging, robbery, kidnapping…"

She sighed.

"But one day I got caught, by some heroes no less. They kind of remind me of those Seasons in some way. They tried to help me, to make me into a good guy but in the end I still felt ignored. In the end, I betrayed them"

Ali looked at her empathetically.

"What happened to them?"

"All dead. One big 'accidental' energy surge which killed them all. I left the country then and headed to London. It was by then I realised that if I was going to be the best, I needed others like me…and that's when I met Troy, after some crazy circus stunt he'd pulled. But, he actually paid attention to me, he rarely ignored me. Together, we pulled off some of the most successful crimes I can remember" she finished.

"So what happened with Troy?" Ali asked with slight interest.

"He held everyone in this circus he was in hostage. His plan failed but I could see he had potential"

"So it was you really that started this team"

"Yeah, I guess" Kira said with a small smile twitching at the sides of her mouth. "did you know Troy is scared of lions?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, apparently one of the lions in the circus bit him on the arm and now he's scared of them" Kira said, smirking. She and Ali laughed but quietly.

Silence filled the room again. Kira coughed.

"So what about you"

"What about me?" Ali asked stubbornly.

"What led you here?"

I don't have to tell you that"

"What! I just told you my bloody life story; I think I deserve to hear yours!" Kira whispered with irritation, not wanting to wake Troy.

"…Fine, I was born in and lived in Quarac till the age of 7. My dad was the head and director of an assassin's guild there. He trained me and my brother Salem from an early age to become assassins like him. But then, one day during training he was demonstrating how to use throwing knives…"

"And?"

"And he stabbed my sister Rana right in the chest. After that, my mother took myself and Salem to the US, trying to sever off all ties with Dad. I remember, we had a little house on the coast…but it was too hard to forget the past"

She sighed and twirled one of her throwing knives.

"You know, I used to know Red Arrow. We were kinda good friends…then he moved away when his parents died. It wasn't long after he left I discovered my powers. I started to train to their peak and eventually made the decision to go back and destroy my father's guild. That quite go to plan, instead I got offered a top position there. Worked there till I was 18 then went to the US to be a hitman for hire. Guess that was how Troy heard of me"

No-one said anything after Ali finished.

"Lys…"

Both girls looked at Troy, who seemed to be writhing uncomfortably in his sleep.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered.

The girls looked at each other, then back to Troy.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The Seasons entered the café, blackened, weary and silent. It was real late by now, almost midnight. Jared had left long ago, but Lys thankfully had a key. They all shuffled in, one by one. Lys went behind the counter and started to clean the plates and cups Jared had left for her. Bruno and Jayden went a helped themselves to a couple of iced buns from the cake stand, much to Lys's annoyance.

"Hey! My boss'll go nuts!"

"Chill out Lys, we've been working all night" Jayden said whilst munching.

"I think she means to say we're just tired and hungry, and a couple of buns couldn't hurt" Bruno excused for her, whilst also munching. Lys just grumbled and let them off. Jayden smiled happily and dragged Bruno upstairs. Meanwhile, Stevie and Lafayette had found themselves a place to sit in the corner. Stevie watched as Lys cleaned the plates, then turned back to Lafayette.

"You okay?" Stevie asked.

"Yeah" was Lafayette's reply.

"Hey Laf, is it too personal to ask how you ended up in Cadmus in the first place?" Stevie asked her. Laf started to give her an angry look but Stevie calmed her down.

"…Fine. I grew up in Start City, but I always found it so cramped, like it was suffocating. I just loved running; I was even on the track team at school. After some time though, I had a fight with my parents and ran off. I kept hopping trains and eventually found myself in DC. I was planning to go to Kentucky, don't know why but in the end, it didn't go to plan. I was in the wrong part of town at the wrong time…"

"And that's when Cadmus got you, right?"

Lafayette nodded.

"Ouch"

"What about you?"

"Me? It's not as interesting"

"Just tell me"

"Okay, well it was about a year before I set up the team with Lys. I was on a road trip with my family. It was raining…and the other person was driving too fast…"

Stevie choked up for a second then calmed down.

"Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital, Somehow, after the crash I discovered I'd developed these new powers. After that, most of my old friends abandoned me…but then I met Lys. When I met her, she was fighting with Troy and I was able to break them apart. It was them we became allies"

Both girls jumped as they heard a 'crash' on the floor. They both turned to see several pieces of shattered glass scattered around the shorter girl's feet. Lys sighed and began to pick them up.

"What's the deal with Lys and this 'Troy' anyway?" Lafayette whispered.

"Well, Troy-"

Stevie was cut off as a glass was slammed down on the table in between her and Lafayette.

"What did I say about mentioning him!" Lys scolded. Stevie shook her head, then placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her down in the adjacent chair.

"You need to get this off your chest…and Lafayette should be allowed to know"

Lys gave no reply at first. She just locked eyes with Stevie, staring at her with cold intensity, but eventually gave up and looked away.

"Fine"

"Okay then" Stevie said, turning back to Lafayette.

"Well, from what I know, Lys grew up in a poor home in Ireland, with her ill mother Serena, her father Sean Eyrie and her twin brother Troy. They didn't have a lot of money since her mother was the only one that worked…"

"But then she died" Lys interrupted. Stevie looked at her.

"When mother died our financial problems only got worse. Troy also got worse. We had a lot of arguments over lots of stupid and selfish things that Troy did, particularly when he would take too much when rationing food and went out blowing what little money we had on circus equipment. One day he packed up and left for the circus after another argument. I didn't see him again for another two years. When I was 17 I discovered my powers. I decided to use them to maybe help my dad with money"

Lys twitched.

"Then…one day…on one of my missions…I found Troy. I found him by a circus, where I also found everyone else tied up, some with deep cuts and bruises. Then I realised how much Troy really had changed" she finished on a dark note.

"And that's when I met her" Stevie added to the end. Lafayette nodded, taking in every word.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Upstairs, the mood between Jayden and Bruno had lessened as well. Though they were content with their iced buns, the near encounter with Dr Alan from earlier hadn't quite left their thoughts just yet.

"He's going to come back for us, I know it" Bruno murmured.

"Burnie, chill"

"He's probably tracking us down with some sort of chip in Stryke, then he'll take her and the rest of us, then we'll all end up in Cadmus labs as experiments-"

"Bruno! You're overreacting, he's probably not tracking us, we're safe" Jayden assured him.

"Fine then, how do you suggest I relax" he asks her.

"Tell me about that tattoo" she says, pointing the words 'I will not disobey' written on his wrist.

"I told you before, I don't really like talking about it…" Bruno murmured

"Why can't you tell me?" Jayden asked pleadingly. She gave him a long, hard look and he eventually gave up.

"There's one thing you have to understand and be calm with though" Bruno mentioned.

"Okay then, just tell me"

"I'm not…all human…I'm, well, alien"

Jayden blinked. She blinked again.

"….You're an alien?" She finally said.

"Yes, are you going to let me explain?"

Jayden gestured her hands as if to say 'carry on'.

"You see, my mother is from a faraway planet known as 'Arsonia'. I also have a stepfather who's from Neptune. I was born on a ship which they immigrated on to earth after the Arsonian people had attacked Neptune. My mother was quite high up on the military ladder in Arsonia, though when they lost she was given to the ambassador of peace-my stepfather-as a wife"

"She was given to him as a wife? What a weird gift"

"Don't question my people. Now you see I have a lot of siblings. Whilst my parents were looking for refuge from the public eye on earth, my younger sister Skipper was born. After some time, my mother left my stepfather with my older siblings, though he still loved her. My mother then had triplets with another man"

"What about your tattoo?"

"I'm getting to that. For the next eleven years after that, my mother was very abusive. She said she wouldn't accept any child of hers to be below a high rank in the Arsonian army. My siblings and I were subjected to rigorous training all the time…that's why I have this tattoo. She gave it to me for misbehaving"

Jayden looked sympathetic at this point; she started to reach a comforting hand over the table to his but suddenly stopped as he continued speaking.

"I remember, my sister Skipper arrived when I was eleven, but she ran away because she didn't agree with mother's parenting style. She inspired me to run away too, with one of my other sister's, which was Sunny"

"That's nice" Jayden said with uncertain agreement.

"I lived in an apartment with my sister for a while, but moved out and started living above a curio shop in Star City. I met a nice girl called Shila there. I like her, wonder what she's doing now"

The mention of 'nice girl' made Jayden's hand slink back to her lap.

"Something wrong?" Bruno asked.

"Huh? Nothing, just a sad story that's all"

"So how about you? Where do you come from?"

"Mine's not a happy one…" Jayden sighed.

"Neither was mine, so just tell" Bruno remarked, sounding oddly like Jayden with his last comment.

"Okay. When I was 8, my dad taught how to use a gun, and other weapons so I'd be safe in Gotham City.

"What about Batman?"

"Yeah, Batman was around and all that but it still wasn't all that safe. In fact, it was when I was 10…when they died, because of some stupid robbers in a speed chase crashing their car!"

Bruno jumped. He'd never seen Jayden get so serious about something before.

"I was put into an orphanage, but not long after I escaped and started living on the streets in Gotham. After some time, I was taken in by this woman called Leslie Thompson in Crime Alley"

Jayden leaned back in her chair.

"I remember when I was 12, I was walking back to Leslie, these two guys came out of nowhere. One had a bandana and a knife, the other had this weird scar and a gun. They attacked me. I kicked the knife outta the guys hand then punched him in the gut and knocked him out, but the guy with scar shot me in the thigh"

She shivered.

"God it was painful, but as he went to shot me again I reacted immediately, holding up a trash can lid which deflected the bullet and hit the guy in the foot. I then knocked him out with a pipe. I think then I stole their stuff and limped back to Leslie. It was after that day I became the next vigilante in Gotham. I can't remember how I met Lys and Stevie…"

"You two! Get down here now!" the familiar voice of Stevie rang out from the lower floor. Bruno and Jayden exchanged looks then quickly rushed downstairs to discover what the commotion was all about. They only saw Lys standing with a letter, Lafayette reading worriedly over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Bruno asked quietly. Lys handed the letter to the other two, who read it aloud.

_To The Seasons_

_We have the man named Jared Laker. He is in our possession as replacement for subject 005. Infiltrating the building again to retrieve would be futile. Since your little escapade the building has been renovated with the utmost technology to keep intruders. However, we will give you one last chance. At the end of this letter are the time, date and address for a meeting between us. Bring your entire team, that annoying other team, plus the other four test subjects that you stole from us._

_Professor Stevens._

_P.S. Here are the details_

_3 Industry Road (formerly the second Cadmus Lab, now abandoned)_

_1__st__ May_

_8:00 pm_

_Do NOT forget_

_X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X _

Somehow, Zatanna had been able to tempt Flick out of his room with the bowl of strawberries. He sat in the front room in front in the television, munching on the juicy strawberries. Several of the other watched him. A couple of them went near him but were driven away by some large inky lion. Obviously, Flick did not want to be interrupted whilst eating. It was kind of cute really. Awkward, but cute. Once Flick finished off his sweet red berried, he wiped his mouth with his white lab coat sleeve and turned to the others.

"So…what do you do for fun around here?" he asked them bluntly.

"Well-"

"Shut up Supey" Flick interrupted Conner. Said superhero tensed and went to go and punch him, but was stopped by M'Gann.

"Well, what do you like doing?" the Martian asked him sweetly. He thought for a second.

"Dunno, blowing stuff up, setting stuff on fire. That kinda stuff"

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.

"Um…you like volleyball?" Robin pipe up.

"Never played it"

"Well let's go out then!" Wally suggested.

"But it's cold" Kaldur pointed out.

"Who cares?" Flick added in. Everyone nodded in agreement and headed for the door. However, as Robin reached for the control panel to open the hanger, a black clad hand stopped him.

"Batman!"

"We are receiving transmissions from an unknown source, they are asking to speak to the team…and Flick" the vigilante spoke in his usual monotone voice. Everyone looked up to the screen. A young girl with a domino mask appeared on the screen. She squealed slightly when she saw Robin but regained her composure and got serious.

"Hey there, this is majorly important. If you want to get back at Cadmus, I have all the information you need. A time, a date and a place. You just need that little kid there" she told them. Flick stepped closer to the screen and ,locked eyes with girl before he spoke.

"Don't call me a kid"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"What are you doing here?" Seether growled deeply, standing in front of Riley protectively (likewise, the red haired Brit was cowering behind him). Lauren had left her horse outside with Dagger and had made her way up to Seether and Riley's room. Obviously, neither were too happy to see her.

"Look, I found you guys by accident. You should also probably know I left the Renegades so you don't have to worry, I'm going to attack or try to capture you" the horse lover said cheerily. The boys still looked wary.

"How do I know we can trust you?" Seether growled again. Lauren raised both her hands. The had some blood on them

"Look! I really don't want to fight you…I kind of fought with Tro-…The Ringmaster earlier. I just couldn't stand that team anymore"

Silence.

"Please believe me" Lauren pleaded innocently. Seether turned around to his companion.

"What do you think Riley? If you think we can trust her, I'll let her stay" he asked. Riley pondered for a moment. He didn't feel any imminent threat from the horse enthusiast.

"I think…we can trust her for now" he whispered, but still clinging to Seether's shirt. The wolf boy turned back to the girl.

"Fine, you can stay for now. But you try anything and, well I can't be held responsible for what the wolf in me will do" he said darkly. Lauren nodded and sat down on the floor by the bed. Riley dragged Seether over the bed and the two of them sat together, facing Lauren.

"So then, are you two a couple now?" Lauren asked cutely. A blush crept up Riley's cheek, and he tried to hide his face in Seether's arm. Said wolf boy placed a hand on the back of his head. Lauren giggled like a fan girl.

"I guess that answers my question"

"Can I ask you a question?" Riley whispered, pulling his head out from Seether's arm.

"Yeah, what?"

"Why…why did you decide to join the Renegades?" he asked curiously. Lauren giggled evilly, making Riley uncomfortable.

"Well started quite a long time ago. I don't quite remember but I lived with my auntie and uncle since I was 6 since both my daddy and mummy died in a car crash. My uncle and auntie never paid much attention to me. No-one understood me but Chloe…"

"Chloe?" Seether asked

"She was my best friend" Lauren explained "I think it was when I was about 12 when I started getting all those dark thoughts. It was also the year I stole Dagger from the zoo"

"I'll give you credit for freeing the wolf" Seether remarked. "have you always been able to talk to horses?"

Lauren smiled.

"Yeah, they would always accompany me along with Dagger on all my crime sprees. No-one ever stopped me. Not liked my auntie and uncle cared. It was only a few months ago that I was recognised by that Ringmaster guy, or Ember and I was asked to meet them"

"Family that doesn't care, sounds familiar" Riley muttered to himself sadly. Seether picked up on this and put an arm round his shoulders.

"That makes me think, how did you guys end up in Cadmus?" Lauren asked curiously, mainly looking at Riley.

"Who…me?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, tell me!" she demanded.

"Would you like me to?" Seether asked.

"No…I will" Riley sighed. He took in a deep breath and began his story.

"Well, I guess for most of my life I've kind of avoided people. I guess that's probably because I'm kinda shy. It's been hard. My parent would always scold me for not talking to them, my little sister Annie would throw things at me, my dad even hit me a few times…"

"You didn't mention that before!" Seether said, rather shocked

"Sorry" the ginger mumbled "anyway, that's not the only pain I put up with. The other boys kinda had a go at me because I was so quiet and, well because I was bisexual. I think naturally I just had quite a high tolerance for pain. I guess that's why that Cadmus lady took me away that day"

Riley shivered.

"I thought…I thought was being kind, then I found myself in this white van…no-one came after me…but then there was Seether" he ended on a light note, looking the older male straight in the eyes. Seether smiled.

"How about you then wolfy? " Lauren questioned the older boy.

"Fine then, but you need to listen carefully with no interruptions"

The other two nodded.

"I am of two different bloodlines: Greek and the Sioux Native American tribe. Both of my parents were Lakota and Dakota Native American, though my dad had Greek blood in him. When my mother was pregnant they moved to a peaceful piece of land that used to be known as Arcadia in Greece, because my father's ancestor once ruled there. My ancestor, the first ever werewolf king, King Lykaon. I was born there, and a year after so was my brother Aleous. People became wary of us however, because of our last name which had the whole wolf myth surrounding it. I was 15 when I discovered that I too could transform into a wolf. That's when Cadmus got to me" he finished bluntly.

Everyone went silent, lowering their heads, except Seether who looked at the clock on the side.

"It's already midnight, we should probably get some rest. You can sleep here if you want Arrow…but on the floor"

Arrow looked irritated for a moment, but complied and laid down to sleep. Seether did not transform back into a wolf, but lay down next to Riley on the bed. Riley sighed but snuggled up into Seether's chest. It wasn't as muscular or strong, but it was still him. Seether flicked open one eye to see the sleeping red head. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on Riley's forehead.

"Goodnight Riles"


	12. Chapter 12 Preparations And Pain

**Before reading this I have an important notice: I am planning a sequel for this story. I originally wanted to keep this a secret but I have a reason for telling everyone now. The sequel, set about seven years after this one will be including new characters I was going to ask from you guys, so now you have time to think about your new character, be it a sidekick, relative, friend or enemy of your first one (I've already got mine planned!)**

**For now, here's the next chapter!**

Dagger growled uncertainly at his mistress when their destination grew larger in sight. Atop her horse, his mistress was dressed in nothing more than a purple dress.

"Hush my pet, it's time we finished what we started" the girl whispered evilly. However, her attention was diverted as yet another woman, unaware of her presence, entered the tent. Instead she led her horse to the side.

"Impossible, she's the last person who'd come here"

Instead, they waited it out

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

No-one had spoken for a while, save a few pained moans from Troy. He had been heard muttering 'Lys' and 'I'm sorry', as well as 'it hurts' from time to time. Both the girls watched with concerned faces. Neither had said a word about it though to each other. After revealing their pasts the ambience had become much tenser. They hadn't quite wanted to get onto that subject but somehow they'd both let their guards down. It seems secrets weren't so easy to keep as criminals, certainly not on this team. Now they knew that much, they could no longer look at each other the same.

"Lys…" he moaned again, clutching at his coat.

"Troy" Someone replied. Ali and Kira looked to each other. When they realised neither of them had spoken, their eyes directed towards the entrance of the circus tent. Stood there was a young woman with long black hair, dressed in purple silk. They knew who it was. In defence, Kira pulled out a Taser Gun. As the girl stepped forward, Ali whipped out a throwing knife. It tore through the tent wall right next to the girl's head. She didn't flinch. The invader continued to walk forward until she came face to face with Kira, Ali close behind. Both sides held their ground, until one decided to speak up.

"What are you doing here, Lys?" Kira hissed. Lys didn't answer.

"Answer me!"

She still didn't answer. Ali nudged Kira out of the way.

"Maybe you'll answer when you see your little circus freak over there" Ali said darkly, pointing over at the injured man.

Lys gasped quietly. Without a word she went and knelt down next to him. As if he sensed her, Troy opened his eyes, and much to Kira and Ali's surprise he struggled and sat himself upright so he could look Lys straight in the eyes. The air became tense again. Everyone waited for one of the twins to speak. Lys surprisingly smirked.

"I knew I'd find you here" She commented teasingly. Troy snarled.

"What the hell do you want" He growled. He attempted to punch her in the face but as he raised his fist he cried out in pain. A look of concern washed over Lys's face. She went to hold him but he shook her off cruelly with a vine whip which hit her in the face, leaving a cut from the thorns. She pulled back and got out the letter she had received from Professor Stevens.

"Okay what the hell is going on?" Kira demanded. Lys looked away sadly.

_2 Hours earlier_

"_Where are you going" Stevie asked seriously as she caught Lys sneaking out of the café. She didn't answer._

"…_You're going to find Troy, aren't you?"_

"_None of your business!" Lys snapped at her._

"_You can't go alone, it'll be dangerous. What if they attack you? You'll be outnumbered 4 to 1!" Stevie stressed. Lys turned away._

"_I don't care" She replied coldly._

"_Let me go with you. I'll help you out like we always do. We don't have to bring the others, just you and me" she offered. Lys slammed her hand on the wall, then sucked in her breath and turned back to Stevie._

"_The only 'you and me' is me and Troy" she said darkly._

"_This is just between you and him then…let me help you still, it sounds this is going to be one emotional reunion-"_

_Lys raised her hand and cut her off._

"_Sorry, but I'm going alone"_

'_Guess it's time to use my secret power'_

_With a click of her finger, Stevie went into a trance._

"_You will NOT follow me to find Troy. You will stay here, have a cupcake and forget this entire conversation" she said hypnotically. Stevie nodded robotically. Satisfied, Lys snapped her fingers and left._

_Stevie was left by the door, confused._

"Since when could you hypnotise people?" Troy asked rudely.

"Only recently. I accidentally used it on my boss" she explained. Ali huffed, snuck up between the twins and snatched the letter from Lys's hand. She then revealed herself.

"Whatever that's not important. What's important is this letter" Ali said opening it. Kira read it over her shoulder.

"What's your answer?" Lys asked.

"I think…that's up to Troy" Kira announced before Ali could protest. The sneaky girl gave Kira a dark look.

"Decide what?" Troy snapped. She passed him the letter. There was a moment of silence as he read it. He looked at Lys who gave him a pleading look.

"…Fine" he muttered.

"What! You can't do anything in your wretched state!" Ali protested but was met with a small shock from Kira.

"If Troy says yes then we're going" she said bluntly. Ali didn't argue.

Lys nodded and got up.

"That's all I wanted so I'd better leave" Lys announced.

"I doubt that" Troy whispered to himself. Kira turned to Ali

"Why don't you check on Troy's wound?" she suggested. Ali only grumbled but complied.

Kira followed up behind Lys just before she left and whispered something to her.

"You just saw what state Troy is in. I swear, if you're a good sister you won't let it get any worse at the rendezvous or so help me you'll learn that lightning can strike twice"

Lys stopped. The area around her suddenly became darker. Before Lys became completely enveloped by the shadows she whispered one thing back.

"Of course I'm a good sister; he's just a bad brother"

As she disappeared and Kira walked away, a pair of dark brown malicious eyes followed them both, and Kira could swear she heard the faint sound of hooves on concrete. The very thought sent a cold shiver up Kira's spine.

'It couldn't be'

Her paranoid thought was proven correct when she found two sets of tracks in the light layer of snow still surrounding the circus.

One belonging to a wolf, the other a horse.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Jayden hummed loudly to the song on her iPod, much to Bruno and Lafayette's annoyance. They were all still in the café, seeing as it was their hideout. After finding the letter, their situation had pretty much become more intense. After all, Lys's boss had been captured by Cadmus and said organisation was demanding the return of their former tortured subjects. But despite all this, Jayden somehow still remained in a good mood, eating éclair after éclair and listening to her music. However, her singing was really starting to push it.

"We will we will rock you! We will we will rock you" She sang along. Eventually, Bruno snapped and knocked the iPod out of her hands, onto the table.

"There, now we're all happy" he breathed out happily.

"I'm not!" Jayden complained.

"I think you overreacted there" Lafayette sighed, not looking up from her drawing. Though didn't really want to trust the four people she had, for some insane reason, decided to team up with she admit that at times they were really amusing. Especially watching them on missions, tiring themselves out, and they were supposed to have been doing this for several years. Right now she had lost interest in their argument and was focusing more on drawing on her napkin.

"What are you drawing Laf?" Jayden asked. She reached to get the napkin but Lafayette hissed as Jayden's hand got close to her arm. Jayden jumped back a little.

"Sorry!"

Bruno reached his hand across the table and adjusted the napkin to get a better. The drawing was of a beautiful rose lying across a book.

"This is amazing, you're a great artist" he complimented her. She tried her best to suppress a smile.

"I can draw too!" Jayden exclaimed. She took the pen and scribbled on her own napkin. When it was done she held it up for the others to see. It was a stick figure version of herself shooting another stick figure. Bruno facepalmed. Lafayette rolled her eyes. Jayden frowned.

"Don't you like it?" she asked.

"It's great" Bruno said out of pity.

"What's great?" Stevie asked, sitting across from Jayden at the table.

Jayden held up her picture.

"Nice!" she commented, munching on a cupcake.

"You're eating a cupcake?" Lafayette asked.

Stevie stopped munching and looked down.

"I guess I am" she said, sounding unsure of herself.

"Have you seen Lys?" Bruno asked. Stevie looked blank.

"I…haven't" she said confusingly. Everyone looked worried.

"That's worrying, we need to know about the plan for the meeting" Bruno mentioned.

"Oh don't worry about that. We're basically going ahead with it. All five of us will go but we have to keep our wits about us" Stevie explained.

"Where do you think Lys is?" Jayden asked generally. No-one had an answer for this. Stevie thought for a second, then gasped loudly.

"I think I know" she murmured.

Just then, Lys arrived. Everyone went silent. Stevie looked her straight in the eyes, then at the cut on her cheek. She knew where Lys had been, but she wasn't about to tell the team. After all, family matters were to be kept private.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"He said no"

"I don't care!" Flick yelled angrily.

"But-"

"I need to go" Flick said stubbornly to the rest of the team.

Once the girl, who was apparently Gun Slinger, explained about the letter to them Batman immediately refused (which the team found strange). He had responded by saying that this wasn't the team's fight and that they weren't going to hand over Flick. Said subject was not impressed. He knew this was his best way to get back at Cadmus for everything they had done. Yet, he wasn't being allowed to go. That's why he was drawing now.

"Look Flick, I'm sure Batman had his reasons" Robin tried to assure him. The other young teen ignored him.

"I say let him do what he wants" Conner objected "with everything they've done to all those subjects, they deserve it"

"But we can't disobey orders" Kaldur argued.

"Why not?" Zatanna asked. Several others, namely Artemis, Wally, Roy and Conner all nodded in agreement. M'gann and Robin seemed pretty much on the fence and just went along with the situation.

"So it's decided we're taking Flick to the old lab" Superboy announced, looking at Kaldur who sighed and gave in.

"Who said I needed backup Supey?" Flick said rudely. Conner kicked the table, breaking one the legs. Flick's drawings all fell on the floor

"Way to go Mr Too Strong For My Own Good" Flick taunted. Conner went to punch him but was stopped by M'gann. Robin picked one up. On the paper were drawings of highly complicated looking gadgets.

"What are these?" he asked.

"My secret weapon" Flick replied. He snatched the paper back. He then pricked his index finger and let the crimson blood drip onto the paper. In a flash of a few seconds the complicated gadget on the white sheet had become real. Flick grinned.

"Cadmus have no idea how stupid it was of them to lose me"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

It was late in the morning when Riley woke up. Several orangey red streaks of morning sun shone through the small motel window, highlighting the red tones of the Brit's hair. The young teen gave out a soft yawn, stretched and sat up in the bed. Seether on the other hand was still snoozing away. His black spike hair was completely ruffled along with the bed sheets. They were mangled enough to look like he'd been fighting with them. Through the rips and tears, most of Seether's tattoos were visible. Riley loved those tattoos. Carefully, Riley turned Seether to his side so he could glimpse at his back. On the tanned skin was a rather large tattoo of a double headed eagle fighting a three headed dog (Cerberus). He liked to imagine himself as the eagle, graceful and free. Seether would be the dog, protective, loyal and strong. Although in his imagination the two of them weren't quite fighting but rather…

His thoughts were cut short as he felt the older male stir underneath his hand. Riley immediately blushed and pulled away. The tanned man opened his eyes and looked up his red haired companion, smiling.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked, sitting himself up.

"Not very long" The Brit stuttered in his cute English accent.

"What were you doing then, checking me out?" He joked. Then it twigged "looking at my tattoo maybe?"

Riley nodded sheepishly. Seether laughed and knocked back Riley's fedora so he could see his eyes better..

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that innocent little mind of yours" he spoke softly, stroking his cheek. Riley blushed.

"Um, rabbits….movies….clouds….books…fluffy stuff…" Riley listed. The wolf boy rolled his eyes. He placed his arm around the redhead's slim waist and pulled the younger towards him.

"Don't ever change" he whispered, then softly placed his lips on Riley's. Comfortable with this by now, he leaned into the kiss, trying to cheekily slip his into the wolfs. Seether picked up on his and did the reverse which earned a quiet moan from Riley. After a moment, the two boys broke away for breath. Seether yawned loudly and shifted round the side of the bed so he could slip on some clothes. He was met with a disturbing question from Riley though.

"Whe…where's Arrow? He stuttered. The wolf immediately looked at the spot where Arrow had been sleeping, which was now devoid of any person.

"That two timing, double crossing snake!"

"Snake? No no, I'd rather be something like a dolphin…or a horse!" The villainess exclaimed bubbly. Riley shifted nervously on the bed. Seether on the other hand got up and placed himself in front of the smiling girl, as well as placing a hand around her throat.

"Where the hell were you?" He snarled, the wolf side of him almost speaking.

"I found some interesting news!" she choked out. Riley, though scared, jumped up and grabbed Seether's arm. The wolf looked at Riley, whose teal eyes were pleading him to take him hand off her throat. He complied and Arrow stumbled back, coughing.

"Alrighty, now I can breathe I'll tell you what I found. You see I went out early this morning to go back and see if I could finish off my fight but then I noticed someone else, namely that Mysteria girl entering the tent so I got suspicious because she would never go there, so I hid around the side and watched the whole scene, it turns out there's a meeting at an old Cadmus lab soon and they want the seasons, the renegades and all the subjects" Lauren so quickly it she sounded like a TV program on fast-forward. It took a moment for the boys to work out what she had just said.

"They want back" Riley finally whispered. There was a look of terror in his eyes. Seether tried to soothe him.

"It's fine, we're not going anyway" He assured.

"What! The one opportunity to get back at Cadmus and you're just gonna hide?" Lauren burst out.

"I'm not putting the two of through that again, why do you even care?"

"Duh, best chance to get back at Troy"

"That's kinda selfish"

"No it's not!"

Riley cringed at the back and forth bantering between the two. He hated arguments, it always reminded him of the ones he would have with his father. Eventually, he couldn't take it any longer.

"STOP!" he yelled, generating a massive surge of energy which blew out all the lights in the room. Poor little Riley managed to force out a little squeak before passing out into Seether's arms. The argument ceased. As the older teen placed Riley carefully on the bed, Lauren spoke up from behind him.

"All I'm saying is, it's probably the best way to end all of this. Then you two little lovebirds don't have to run anymore" Lauren explained.

Seether took in her words carefully. His eyes glazed over the pale face of the younger boy. He came to a decision.

"Fine then, we'll go…but for Riley's sake"

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

"Are you really sure this is a good idea sir?" Professor Stevens asked her senior. Dr Alan was sat across from her, facing away from his desk and out the window.

"Yes but what about the other teams you've invited?"

Dr Alan coughed violently, then swivelled round to face the woman.

"There is no need to worry. I have plans for them"

He reached into a draw in his desk and pulled out a few papers which he handed to the professor. She took them and read carefully through them. Once she reached the end, she looked at him with shock.

"You can't be serious!" She shouted.

Looking at the smile on his face only made it worse.

**There we go! So what does Dr Alan have planned? What's going to happen at the metting? Will Arrow get revenge? Will the twins ever make up? So many questions that will be answered soon enough!**


	13. Chapter 13 The Meeting

**Just in case people got the wrong interpretation of what I meant about my sequel, I mean that I would like to use new characters alongside the old characters in the new story, so everyone here will still be used. Also I don't mind if you have more than one character, that's totally fine with me (as long as there aren't loads!). Anyway, here's the big chapter!**

**3 Industry Road-Cadmus Lab 2, 1st May, 7:50 pm**

Professor Steven's was certainly right when she said 'abandoned'. Even through the dark shades of the night and the wavering mist, you could still see the derelict building. Shattered windows, hanging cable lines, broken bricks; It was a mess. It gave off the feel of a haunted house, complete with a creaking gate and chilling sounds emanating from the inside.

The Seasons had been the first to arrive. Burnout shivered slightly at the creepy noise but then looking at his female companions, he quickly regained his composure. Stryke looked warily at her surroundings, not feeling comfortable back at a laboratory. Gun Slinger stood with a grin on her face. As usual, she wasn't scared in the slightest. Motion looked calmly around her, then back to Mysteria, who was standing stubbornly against the darkness and the mist, with her arms crossed and devoid of expression. Motion was about to ask her something but was stopped as someone shortly arrived after them.

**7:52 pm**

A young 13 year old boy, dressed in a white lab coat arrived on the scene. It was Flick or Death Breath as he was now going by. The seasons watched him arrive and stand somewhere a little off from them with slight suspicion. Three others arrived just behind him, whim The Seasons easily recognised as Robin, Kid Flash and Miss Martian. Gun Slinger squealed instantly when she saw Robin. Motion gave her a little push and a mild warning glare (well, mild in comparison to Mysteria). After doing so, she started to feel unnerved, as though the three that had just arrived were not the only ones, like she could feel eyes amongst the darkness watching her. Stryke felt this too, but couldn't help but notice several pieces of paper in the young boy's hands. She pointed this out silently to Burnout who in return nodded and went to show Mysteria; until he saw she was too occupied with someone else who had just arrived.

**7:55 pm**

Mysteria kept herself from uttering a single sound as the now three members of The Renegades entered the scene. The man himself, The Ringmaster, walked with his usual elegant stance alongside his girls, Ember and Blind Spot. Motion looked to Mysteria to check her emotions, readying herself in case she lost her temper. The twins looked each other in the eye, green to green, hot to cold. Both felt like starting a fight right now. However, as Mysteria noticed Ringmaster struggling slightly in pain as he walked, she lost all hostile feelings. The Ringmaster looked away from his sister; Ember shot Mysteria a warning look. Blind Spot gazed around, as though she were looking for someone

There was complete silence for another few minutes, until the last three expected finally turned up. Blind Spot's gaze sharply turned to them. The other two villains followed her look to one person out of the three. The Ringmaster snarled.

**7:59 pm**

Arrow gracefully rode in first, followed shortly behind by Seether and Riley. Her horse was just as awe inspiring as the previous ones; a large brown alapoosa horse, with a pure white face and an odd white pattern down its back. Behind her, the red haired teen was clinging to the wolf boy's arm, fedora hanging over his frightened teal eyes. Seether had his hand on Riley's waist protectively, ushering soothing words to try and keep his partner from panic.

They stood themselves in a place that was in everyone's line of vision, particularly the villains. Arrow giggled at The Ringmaster, her eyes twinkling with mischievous and evil thoughts. She laughed even harder as the man went to step forward but shook in fear as her wolf snarled at him. He wanted to attack her then and there, but his movements were cut short by sharp pains in his abdomen. Blind Spot had to be the one to hold him back as well, as Ember was too focused on Riley. Both the energy users remembered all too well their fight at the lab. Riley squirmed under Ember's piercing gaze and hid his face in Seether's chest. The wolf boy looked down at the cowering boy then snarled at Ember for scaring him. She turned her nose up at him.

All their attention was quickly diverted as a minute after the last three arrived, so had the man they all wanted to see.

**8:00 pm**

Out from the thick mist swirling around the rusted iron bars of the gate, an old but haunting figure emerged, followed by a young but serious looking woman. The subjects cowered slightly at his presence. The Seasons and Renegades held their ground. The old man looked at each every person individually, his gaze more striking on the subjects. He then turned to his assistant and nodded. She nodded back, then made her way back into the building. The air became tense as he coughed and began to speak, everyone anticipating what he would say.

"I see you are all here, good. As four of you here will definitely know, I am Dr Alan, leading researcher and head scientist of Cadmus Laboratories in London city…"

"Get to the point!" Blind Spot shouted. He briefly looked at her with a pitiful look.

"The impulsiveness of youth, how sad. Very well then, I will make this short. The lot of you have stolen four of my property-"

"WE'RE NOT PROPERTY" someone yelled angrily. Many were a little surprised to see it was Death Breath. Dr Alan didn't look impressed.

"My my, I wasn't aware you had such a loud voice for such a small subject…"

"Do NOT call him a subject" Seether growled.

"Seether…" Riley whispered. Dr Alan smirked.

"Ah yes, Lykaon. I see you are still very much the dog you were before you escaped…and is that Energiser with you? I thought you two were deliberately separated so as not to be together!"

"Tough luck Doc, no-one touches my mate again" Seether said with full confidence. The old scientist grumbled angrily. Stryke kept out of the scene, not wanting to attract the dark doctor's attention.

"Fine, as I was saying before I was interrupted, these subjects were the current leading projects of Cadmus and we'd very much like them back, even if that means we have to take them by force…or even by threat" he finished. He clicked his fingers and stepped to the side. The woman, which was Professor Steven's, dragged what looked to be a middle aged man down the crooked pathway, still in a greasy uniform. Sweating and breathing heavily, the man looked up. Every Season member gasped.

"Jared!" Gun Slinger exclaimed. Mysteria and Motion set evil looks upon the scientists.

"My first deal for the Seasons, in exchange for Stryke whom I now is among you, I'll return your beloved boss" he said with an evil smile "but if you refuse the deal…"

Professor Steven's held a gun to his head.

None of them knew what to do. Jared Laker was like family to them, seeing as most of them didn't really have one. He was the only non villain/hero to know about them. It would tear each one of them apart to lose him.

But they also couldn't give up Stryke. They had made a promise to protect the subjects from the beginning, but since they only ended up with Stryke they swore to keep her from the harm of Cadmus to the best of their abilities. It was a conflicting decision.

"Don't worry about me kids" a voice croaked out. The Seasons couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"But Jared-" Bruno started but was cut off.

"Look, I understand the situation. It's one life or another. I've lived my life, had kids, a beautiful wife, had adventures, of course, all of that's gone now but I've done it all. Now that poor girl there" he gestured he Stryke "has spent her time suffering in that damned lab because of these monsters. She hasn't had the chance the go out there and live; she's just another victim of a stupid turf war, and in wars sacrifices have to be made. I'm willing to lay down my life for you kids if it means a better future for the rest of you"

Jared smiled sadly, then looked up at his captor.

"Just shoot me you witch, get it over with"

The professor looked confused and turned to her associate. Dr Alan shrugged and nodded. The brave Jared Laker shut his eyes and waited calmly for the bullet. Professor Steven's slowly pulled the trigger.

"NO!" Mysteria screamed in anguish. Nobody tore their eyes away. It was a shocking sight.

It was even more shocking when they saw Jared Laker lying on the ground about a metre away from the gun, with Blind Spot holding him down.

The looks of confusion were indescribable.

Blind Spot shoved herself off the café owner and stood herself up.

"You got lucky old man" she said dryly and made her way back to the other villains. Mysteria followed her with her surprised eyes. The Ringmaster gave her a nod which took her by surprise even more so.

"That's the last brotherly favour I do you" he spat. She took it lightly.

"How the hell did you miss?" Dr Alan scolded the professor.

"I..I couldn't see her; the guy just disappeared before my eyes!" she tried to explain in a fluster. The doctor sighed angrily.

"Fine, we'll just have to proceed with plan mark two" he ordered. She nodded obediently and then turned round. Putting two fingers to her mouth she drew an ear piercing whistle which caused everyone to block their ears with their hands.

There was silence for a brief moment. Then there was a crash. The partially cracked windows of the old lab shattered, blowing glass everywhere as four giant humanoid yet robotic things leapt out of the building and to the grinning scientist's sides. What was worse was how they seemed oddly familiar.

The first one looked rather like a large dark wold, but still with some human like features. The second was sparking and generating pure energy and was a dark reddish colour. The third had large bone like spike on its arm and the fourth was dripping thick, oozing ink from every crack.

"Children, may I introduce you to Lykaon, Energiser, Stryke and Death Breath-Mark 2. In other words to the subjects, be prepared to meet your maker!"

**How's it all gonna go down? Why would The Ringmaster save Jared's life? Will Jared fight alongside them? And most importantly, who will prevail? How's it all gonna go down? Why would The Ringmaster save Jared's life? Will Jared fight alongside them? And most importantly, who will prevail? The answers will come all in good time my wonderful readers!**


	14. Chapter 14 No World For Tomorrow

**This is the big chapter, I hope you enjoy it! Sorry it took so long, but I've been really busy and my laptop has been screwing up, also the title of this chapter comes from a song by Coheed And Cambria which has inspired me during writing this chapter.**

It was frightening how quickly the fight had started.

No-one had said anything as Dr Alan had brought out his four destructive super soldiers. They had all instead readied themselves for any possible attack. The old man had smiled his oh so sinister smile, then ordered his four soldiers

"Bring me the subjects, then eliminate the rest of the slime"

That's when the chaos started.

The four robotic soldiers had complied and instantly leapt into attack with their human counterparts. At first, The Seasons and The Renegades were unsure of what to do. Mysteria was about to give the order to help and protect the subjects in their fight, until she was interrupted by a whack from a vine on the back of her head. She knew too well who that could be and sharply twisted round to be met with the last face she wanted to see right now.

"Your fight is with me sis" he blankly stated. If it had been anyone else, Mysteria would had shrugged it off and used her shadows to whisk herself away. But The Ringmaster was a different story. Unable to control her emotions, she instantly shot a dark shadowed ball at him, plunging straight at his chest. He growled deeply and dragged her off with a vine, their petty sibling fight quickly escalating into a full blown fight of near pure hatred.

Knowing The Ringmaster all too well, Ember set out what would have most likely been his orders if he had got around to saying them. Too quickly for her opponent to react, she flung out a wire which latched on to Burnout, sending a bolt of electricity straight into the man's chest. Burnout screamed out in pain and dropped to his knees as his muscles contracted. There was no way he was giving up the fight though. Burnout raised his hand, and a ring of fire, red hot as the highlights in Ember's hair ignited itself around Ember's feet. She hissed as her movement was blocked. Raising her head the trapped villain went to call out to her fellow member Blind Spot. She cursed loudly as she noticed the other villain had already gotten herself into a fight.

The muscular girl whipped out a throwing knife from her holster, launching it at her target: Gun Slinger. Thankfully, the younger girl had blocked the knife with one of her guns. In retaliation, Gun Slinger fired several shots back. She grinned but her smile turned into shock when she noticed her target hadn't been hit by any of the bullets. Her opponent smirked arrogantly.

"How the hell did you dodge all of them!" Gun Slinger exclaimed with annoyance. She didn't receive a reply. Instead, her assailant seemed to disappear from her vision, leaving her confused. While she stood in her confused state, Blind Spot, or rather her fist, reappeared quickly in front of her face. She was knocked backwards onto her back, blinding pain bursting from her face. Not wanting to give in, she went to stand up again. However, she was quickly knocked down as a horse sprinted past her.

Arrow sprinted towards The Ringmaster with an evil and eager look. Her horse Aztec and her wolf Dagger shared the same look. The Ringmaster looked up from his sibling brawl when he heard the sound of horseshoes of pavement. Fear instantly swept over his face as he saw Dagger bounding straight at him. He actually screamed. The wolf would have torn him to pieces. That is, if Mysteria hadn't have pulled him away just in time. His black haired twin quickly summoned the shadows of the evening, surrounding the both of them and taking them to a safe place where they wouldn't be harmed, which happened to be an empty room in the abandoned laboratory.

Dagger looked confused as his prey suddenly disappeared into the darkness. Arrow lost her temper.

"Freaking Harkens! I'll kill them!" She yelled.

Her anger was short lived. A powerful blow bashed the back of her head. She clung desperately to the reins on her horse to stop herself from falling off. Motion clenched her teeth. It seemed it was going to be more difficult than she imagined to knock this girl down. She steadied herself as the horse was turned round. Arrow and Motion met face to face.

"You want a fight? I'll give you a fight" Arrow hissed darkly. For once, she let herself down from Aztec. Dagger took the horse's place by her side, but unusually Arrow ushered it back.

"One on one then" Motion breathed out. The reply she received was a punch to the chest. Regaining herself, she matched this move. Arrow growled. With her reactions she was able to dodge it but over and over her opponent matched her moves expertly. Motion continued to fight however, not caring that she was getting nowhere.

'Lys…I just hope I'm buying you enough time here'

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The subjects were not having the best luck over with the super soldiers.

"Of course, they were designed with our powers in mind, to surpass us" Stryke yelled out, yet again dodging another beheading from her robotic counterpart.

She had given her fair share of slashes, though most of them had not caused much damage. Obviously, Stryke mark 2 was built stronger than she was. Her own body on the other hand was bearing several bleeding wounds. The blood loss was wearing her down. Crimson mixed with sweat. She gritted her teeth and stumbled back clumsily, avoiding another near fatal attack. She couldn't keep this up.

She flashed a quick look at her fellow struggling subjects. She was able to catch a glance at Seether and Riley. The poor redhead was shaking violently, standing not far behind Seether who seemed to be doing the fighting for both of them, in wolf form. It was wolf against wolf at the moment. It was a full on scrap, blood and oil oozing from cracks and wounds. Seether bared his teeth, a rabid look filling his eyes. He bit down ferociously down on the counterparts shoulder. There was no scream of pain. The larger wolf reacted by biting back, then throwing him to the ground. Seether landed by Riley's feet. The younger teen immediately fell to his knees and pulled his partner into a hug.

"Seether! A..are you o...okay? Say something!" he stammered in blind panic. He closed his teal eyes, a few frightened tears slipping out. They shot open again as he felt something touch his tear stained cheek. He looked down at the bruised, bloody face of his partner. He watched as many of the cuts, particularly the bite on his shoulder, rapidly healed themselves.

"Hey, stop panicking. Don't worry, I'll be fine" Seether assured him. They shared a tender look, but as their faces leaned together they were cut off by a blinding thunderbolt. Energiser and Lykaon mark 2 closed in for the kill. Riley froze again. Seether tried to move but groaned in pain. Instead, he shifted so he was in front of the Brit.

From a distance, out of sight of Death Breath mark 2, Flick watched his surrogate brothers and sister struggling and suffering against their opponents. He face was sad but also…angry. So angry. Silently, several others dropped down and appeared next to him.

"So, what now Flicky?" Artemis asked, readying her bow.

"Now we turn the tables" he stated. He turned his attention to Robin. The boy wonder nodded back, pulling out several pieces of paper. He handed them to Flick who spread them out of the floor. The young teen then bit down hard on his index finger until he felt his teeth break the skin. His finger hovered over the papers, letting blood fall on each one. In an instant, the drawings on said papers became real in an instant. A few of the team exchanged looks of surprise. Nonetheless, aside from Red Arrow, Artemis, Zatanna and Miss Martian, the team members picked up the weird looking guns that Flick, or Death Breath had created. Even so, there was still one left, which Flick didn't pick up.

"Aren't you going to use one?" Aqualad asked. The young subject shook his head. Flick directed his attention instead to the middle aged café owner who was standing not too far from them. Luckily, Jared turned and faced him. Flick chucked the gun at him, which the man caught easily.

"Thanks, but…what the hell is this kid?" he asked.

"Try it and see" Flick stated. Kid Flash was the first to respond to this. He shot straight at the robotic Death Breath. Upon impact, whatever he had fired caused a great explosion, damaging its back. Ink spilled everywhere. Flick clapped his hands in delight.

"Now this is much more fun!" he exclaimed. They all gave him weird looks.

"…Right. Anyway, we should initiate Operation Death Breath"

Everyone complied. Red Arrow, Robin, Superboy and Flick charged at Flick's robotic counterpart. Zatanna, Artemis, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Aqualad on the other hand went to help the other subjects and break up the fight between the heroes and villains.

Jared Laker watched wistfully as the 'youngsters' as he called them charge head on into a fight. It reminded him of his army days. The whispering behind him suddenly caught his attention. Dr Alan and the professor seemed to be discussing something. They were the ones that caused this; they caused all the pain. He looked down at the gun he was handed, then back at the scientists. He leaned down and placed his hand in the dirt. He painted two camouflage marks onto his cheeks with the dirt.

Then he aimed the gun.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

The fighting became more serious between the Seasons and Renegades.

Burnout was finding himself losing against his electric opponent. Flames encircled the two of them, so at least she couldn't escape and hurt anyone else. However, that did mean that Burnout was taking the full force of her power instead. She had pulled out many different pieces of random technology designed to shock and incapacitate him. He was struggling to stand; his muscles stiff and sore from the shocks. Ember was just waiting for his next move, now holding a Taser. It wasn't like she had come out completely unscathed either. The swirling flames and licked and danced on her skin, causing burns that were extremely sore to the touch. The flames licked at Burnout too.

"Why are you still fighting? Your leader isn't here, he didn't issue orders. Why did you even come here?" the male hero shouted in a desperate attempt to try and stop another attack. For a moment, the girl paused.

"He's not my leader" she replied.

"But you came here because he did"

"I did not!"

"…You like him don't you? The Ringmaster?" he eventually asked. It was a stupid thing to do. For a second, her face looked as though she agreed. But then it became contorted with anger. As the villain approached for another attack, he decided to use the other side of his power as defence. The light from the flames flashed suddenly. Ember stopped in her tracks. Her opponent's appearance seemed to alter itself so that Ember found it confusing. She couldn't attack now. She cursed loudly.

"Raeppasid semalf!" a female voice rang out from outside the disappearing flames. As the flames faded, so did Burnouts altered appearance. However, Ember didn't get to shock him again, because she knocked down by an arrow to the head. Burnout looked relieved.

Zatanna and Artemis gave each other a high five.

Bullets and knives shot through the air with talented aims. Only few of these actually reached their targets. Much to Gun Slinger's annoyance, Blind Spot was able to easily dodge most of her bullets. She had been able to dig a couple of them in her ankles which slowed down her movements. However, Blind Spot had got her fair share, a couple of throwing knives slicing deep into Gun Slinger's arms. Both girls were slowing down; their fight wouldn't last much longer. Blind Spot was running out of knives, as too was her opponent with bullets. Each girl came down to their last token of ammunition. Neither got to fire. An indistinguishable blur of red and yellow flashed past their eyes. Both looked down to realise their knives and guns were missing.

"Not so tough now, huh?" The cocky redhead known as Kid Flash remarked. Neither girl looked impressed.

"Hey! I thought I told you once, those are mine!" Gun Slinger complained, pouting.

"I know beautiful, and before you can get yours back…" he said, directly at Blind Spot before speeding away somewhere where they couldn't see him.

"Damn" the female villain mumbled. Gun Slinger just looked unhappy. Especially when she got knocked over by the horse again.

Arrow's horse Aztec was storming back, trying to keep out the large space being occupied by her mistress and Motion fighting nonstop. There was sheer determination in both girls' eyes. The quite muscular villainess shouldn't have been having any trouble defeating this 'weakling'. Her strength and unnatural reactions should have had her out cold within minutes. But somehow, this other girl was able to copy and match every one of her actions. It was frustrating. However, this was also frustrating to Motion. She may have been able to match Arrow's movements but she wasn't able to surpass them. Neither girl could get the upper hand; they were fighting needlessly. But still, they were both determined to take one another down.

They were not the ones to stop the fight. Arrow and Motion's movements were both stopped. The evil villainess turned to see herself being held down by the Atlantean she nearly was able to defeat back at the break in. She struggled and kicked but her movements were futile. Dagger and Aztec rushed in to help her but she shook her head, signalling them to stand down.

"…We're done here"

Motion too turned round to be met with the green face of a Martian holding her back. However, she did not struggle. She was just glad someone else stopped them before it got too far.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Stryke found herself pinned down by her robotic enemy. Using her own sharp bones, she desperately tried to hold back its arms. Her arms shook as they used all of their energy to keep back the attacker. She glanced again at her fellow subjects, at their struggles. She never wanted to be here now, defending her life in such a violent and bloody battle. But that's all she could do now. If she wanted to survive…

Stryke screeched loudly at her captor, and then with every ounce of strength, she slashed her arm across the other's. She leapt back and admired her work. The right arm of the super soldier had been cut clean off by her own built in bone weapon. A quiet laugh escaped her lips. She was strong, she could do this. She leapt at the super soldier again, one by one slicing off its other arm and legs, then finally its head. Stryke, no Lafayette, sat down in the dirt, thankful it was over.

Seether and Riley were still struggling on the other hand with their own subjects. Seether had been able to get himself back on his feet but was worried that if he ran off to fight again, then he was leaving Riley exposed to danger. So he stood his, no, their ground as the robotic soldiers closed in. But before Lykaon Mark 2 could close in for the kill, there was an explosion from behind. The two subjects looked in surprise as it fell to its side. Half of its back had been blown off completely. Behind it, Superboy and Wolf stood proudly, his arms crossed. Seether grinned at Wolf.

"I bet you'd agree that robots are no substitute for wolves" he commented with a huff. The wolf boy grinned and nodded. Superboy stepped up to the robotic wolf, then using his strength he smashed in the head, destroying it fully. Seether's heart skipped a beat however when he heard a familiar scream. He whipped round to see Riley on the floor, his face twisted with sheer terror. Energiser Mark 2 was closing in fast on the redhead, who wasn't moving at all. Instantly, Seether threw himself in front of Riley, creating a protective shield.

"See…Seether!"

"No, I am not letting you die!"

Riley clenched his teeth, then forcefully shuffled himself so he was beside Seether.

"If you die, what am I supposed to do? I can't live without you!" Riley shouted, wrapping his arms strongly around his partner. Seether couldn't say anything else.

The wolf boy and the red haired teen waited painfully for the energetic blow that would surely kill them.

They waited.

The blow never reached them.

Seether felt Riley shakily nudge his shoulder. He hesitantly pulled himself away from Riley to turn and see why they hadn't been hit.

There she lay. The horse was still standing, but over her mistress. Seether sensed as the other wolf came and sat by her too. Riley gulped nervously. The two of them peered round to the horse. To their shock, Arrow lay, breathing heavily and twitching.

"Arr…arr…wh…why?" Riley stammered. The ex-villainess giggled.

"You two…didn't…deserve this…I guess….i'm not…so much…of…a villain…huh?" she said between breaths, before closing her eyes. The two subjects fell silent. They didn't even react as Robin jumped in and checked her pulse.

"…She's still alive, but badly injured" he said unemotionally. Riley shook, but then he did something which literally shocked everyone.

Huge amounts of blinding electricity burst out from Riley's hands, launching in one thunderbolt straight at Energiser Mark 2. The super soldier blew up instantly, sparks and bolts raining down like confetti. Seether looked at his lover with surprise. What was even more surprising was that he was still standing. With that amount of electricity he usually would have passed out by now. But no, there he was standing strong, but still shaking. Seether stood up in front of him. He placed a finger under his chin and lifted the redheads face up to his own.

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you?" he said, smiling. The wolf boy pulled the teens face closer for a quick, tender kiss. Although, the younger teens warm lips went limp, along with his body as he eventually passed out in the wolf's arms. Seether laid him down next to Arrow.

It wasn't over though.

Flick saw his Superboy and Robin assist his surrogate brother's in helping to defeat their robotic counterparts. He was now stuck with his own, with only Red Arrow backing him up. While Death Breath Mark 2 was still turned away from them, Red Arrow an arrow straight into its back. Upon impact, a high-density polyurethane foam engulfed the super soldier. Red Arrow nodded to Flick who took it upon himself to finally end the fighting. His fight was quick and final compared to everything else that had happened.

Basically while his enemy was incapacitated, the ink dripped from his fingers, creating a very large inky creature that couldn't be described as anything other than a monster. The inky monster slashed its claws at the super soldier, ripping it's head clean off. Flick's enemy collapsed to ground unmoving.

It was finally over.

There was actual silence from everyone there, from the Seasons, the Renegades, the subjects and the team.

The silence was broken by one more explosion.

All eyes were on the front of the gate where the explosion was heard. The smoke cleared to see Dr Alan lying helpless on the batter path. Jared Laker had him pinned down with his foot, pointing the gun straight at his face. Professor Steven's was scrambling around with a phone for some reason but no-one was paying any attention to her.

Lafayette, Flick, Seether and Riley gathered round the helpless Dr Alan. Jared Laker saw them approach and stepped off.

"He's all yours" he said gruffly. The subjects. Stryke and Flick weren't quite sure what to do with him, this man who had caused them suffering. Thankfully, Seether stepped up but first he turned to Riley.

"You might not want to watch this" he warned his partner. Riley nodded sheepishly and turned round. Seether then transformed back into his wolf form and advanced on Dr Alan, the threatening look on his face more than enough of a warning to the old man.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

'Wonder who she's phoning?' Troy though as he watched the scene outside, looking at Professor Stevens. He grimaced as he watched Dr Alan be torn to shreds by the wolf boy. He clutched at his own bandaged wound.

"Stop messing with that" a cold voice scolded him from across the room. He turned round to his dark haired twin and hissed. She turned away and looked out the window as well.

"Well, I guess we got what we wanted in the end" she sighed.

"What's that?" Troy snorted.

"At least…their free" she said wistfully.

Troy had no answer for that. He just snorted again and looked out the window again.

"But…that's all I wanted" she said quietly again. He didn't look at her.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" she scolded, her green eyes looking straight into his. He growled.

"I missed you so much when you left. Not just me, dad too. He was just like when mom died; he rarely spoke, and always served up your favourite meals forgetting you weren't there. I had to be the strong one. I promised dad I'd find you and bring you back home. So why don't you already!" she cried out, a tear escaping from the corner of her emerald eye.

"SHUT UP!" Troy screamed. Lys braced herself, expecting him to launch forward in attack. Instead she just heard a pained groan. She looked back and saw Troy kneeling down, gripping his abdomen with a pained expression. Blood was dripping down and pooling around him. Sympathy washed over her.

"…Let me help with that" she sighed, kneeling down next to him. He pulled away when she touched him at first.

But then he saw the cut on her cheek. The one he made.

She gently pulled of his red tailcoat, revealing an Evanescence t-shirt that seemed too big for him.

"Where'd this come from then?" she asked, chuckling.

"Shut up"

"I thought you were a smaller size" he said, laughing again.

"It's Hermes…" he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said its Hermes!" he pouted.

"Who's Hermes then?" Lys asked whilst readjusting his bandages.

"He's just a guy I met in a bar…"

"And he gave you his shirt?"

"Yeah…"

"What's he like"

"Cool, good looking…"

"You still know him?"

"Stop asking so many questions!" Troy yelled childishly. Lys rolled her eyes. Once she finished rewrapping the bandages she scooted next to him

An awkward silence hung over them.

The silence was interrupted by police sirens. Lys jumped to her feet; Troy froze and ducked away from the windows. She looked at him with concern.

"Ringmaster, Ember. We know you are in there, come out with your hands up!" a harsh voice sounded from outside. Lys gritted her teeth. She glanced outside the window. True enough, police cars were surrounding the old building. Everyone seemed to have scattered. No, wait, she saw Motion hiding with the Renegades and other Season members.

"Damn that professor…must have been who she was calling" Troy muttered from the floor.

"Why are they only asking for you and Ember?" Lys asked her twin seriously.

"We only recruited those other two recently so I'd say they're only mildly known in London" he answered in a monotone voice "damn…I can't get outta this one" he moaned.

Lys knelt next to him, her face plastered with concern and seriousness.

"You will get out of this"

"Fine I'll play along, how?"

Lys picked up a shard of glass.

X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X

Everyone could tell that Professor Stevens had called the police. The instant the sirens had been heard everyone had scattered and hid. The four subjects had stuck together and hid behind one of Flick's inky animals which thankfully blended in with the darkness. The Seasons and Renegades had hidden together around the side of the building, out of the sight of the police cars, Jared Laker with them. Ember was at the back, seeing as she was the one they wanted. However, she couldn't understand why the Seasons were helping to hide her.

"Why…why are you hiding me?" she whispered as quietly as possible.

"This war is over now, there are no more feuds. You may not be an ally but I no longer consider you an enemy" Motion answered her plainly. Ember nodded with understanding.

"So…where's The Ringmaster?" Arrow asked dozily. She had only woken up a few moments ago. Her question was soon answered. At first, everyone looked confused.

From the front of the building, a short black haired figure who looked unmistakeably like Mysteria wandered out from the building. She went unnoticed by the police.

Everyone's expression then turned to shock.

From the top of the abandoned laboratory, a short and eccentrically dressed figure jumped down from the roof, vines sporting from their arms. They unmistakeably looked like The Ringmaster. The figure didn't last long as a gunshot echoed out. The figure fell to the floor, bleeding from their ankle. The police roughly held them down and placed the handcuffs, then pulled the figure to their feet.

During this time, everyone had ran out (keeping Ember hidden among them) and had surrounded Mysteria.

"Lys! You're okay!" Gun Slinger exclaimed happily. She didn't answer. Ember wasn't so happy on the other hand. She went up and grabbed her by the scruff of her silk shirt.

"You bitch! How could you just let Troy get taken like that! How could-"

She stopped.

Something awful dawned on her.

There was no cut on her cheek.

Everyone went quiet.

Troy pulled off the wig.

There was exchange of gasps and comments between everyone. All at once they looked at 'Troy' being led away by the police. 'Troy' turned around. They could all see the cut on their cheek.

It was Lys.

She was shoved into the backseat of the police car roughly. As they drove away, she turned around and smiled sadly at her brother. Troy couldn't smile back. He just broke down and cried. Ember knelt down beside him and placed a comforting hand on his back. By now, the other's felt it was time they left.

Jared Laker ushered the Seasons away. Jayden was crying softly, Bruno looked shocked. Stevie was expressionless. Lafayette also left with them.

After giving his goodbyes to his fellow subjects, Flick had left with the team on the bioship.

Riley kept sniffling into Seether's chest. Taking one last look at Troy, he led his partner away from the depressing scene.

The only ones to stay were the Renegades. Blind Spot stood beside Arrow on her horse, watching as her former 'leader' cried his heart out for the first time in years.

Now it was over

**And that's that! But not to worry! There is still one more little chapter; the epilogue which is about a few months after showing how everyone is after this turf war. Then I'll start work on the sequel.**

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story, I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!**


	15. Chapter 15 Human

**IMPORTANT NOTE: If you PM me after this chapter about what kinda new character you want (villain/hero/other) I'll resend you the right character sheet (I have a new modified one for characters that are not heroes/villains/subjects)**

**Anyway, I've been really busy because of schoolwork/writers block/mood swings etc. However, I finally got the time to write. Once again I'd like to thank all my readers and contributors for your heart-warming comments and great ideas, even those who didn't send me characters. This chapter will pretty much read like a songfic hopefully, because it's based on the song 'Human' by 'The Killers'.**

**Also, I'll be putting up a preview chapter sometime soon after this to notify other readers if they want to submit any new characters.**

**So 1 month after the Cadmus incident, where are our heroes, villains and subjects now?**

**Valintine Horse Ranch, Canada**

_I did my best to notice, when the call came down the line_

Lauren breathed in the fresh country air of the open fields. She rubbed her luscious brown eyes lazily and gazed out over her new life. Just masses of lush, emerald fields stretched beyond her feet from the creaking wooden doorway she was standing in. A smile plastered her face as the sound of whinnying filled her ears. Out on every field, grazing at the soft grass were horses of all breed and beauty. Many of these were new but their arrival stemmed from the original five that Lauren had kept during her 'Arrow' days. They were kept in their own special pen; Silver, Lana, Star, Aztec…but one was missing.

The brown haired girl jumped as something soft brushed itself against her bare lower leg. She shifted her glance downwards to see an average sized hazel brown Shetland pony with her nose pointed up. On its nose was an odd white marking like a maple leaf.

"Ah! There you are Maple Leaf!" Lauren exclaimed happily. She reached down and stroked the pony's nose. The small animal gave a satisfied whinny in return. It was then the dark haired girl noticed the small letter falling out its mouth, which she picked up.

The address of the other side read 'Chloe Dusk'.

_Up to the platform of surrender, I was broad but I was kind_

The ex-villainess sat down on the porch. Carefully, she tore through the top of the envelope and pulled out the crisp white letter. Such neat writing, so much like Chloe's.

Dear Lauren

I know we haven't seen each other since that unfortunate day, but I think it's time we met up again. I miss you bestie! Also, to settle any awkwardness, I do know about what you've done these past few years. It doesn't bother me. So long as you leave 'Arrow' behind, I believe we can start fresh. Send me you reply soon old friend.

Love, Chloe

Silence swept over Lauren. The gentle breeze blew past her. Maple Leaf, and dagger, prodded their noses in her leg and gave her concerned looks. She returned such looks. It was true, she hadn't seen Chloe in a long time…but I she saw her again would she only cause her pain again?

Lauren got herself up. Hair covered her eyes. She shuffled her way into the kitchen.

_And sometimes I get nervous, when I see an open door_

Once in the kitchen she searched around, tearing up everything, dropping several knives which clattered dangerously close to her feet. One even lightly sliced at the side of her foot, blood oozing out of the cut. She paid no attention to it at all. From the doorway, Dagger and Maple Leaf watched their Mistress confusingly, exchanging such looks. Eventually, their mistress seemed to find what she was looking for and sat down at the kitchen table, scribbling furiously at a crumpled piece of paper. She then forcefully got out of her chair and stormed off outside.

_Close your eyes, clear your heart_

The piece of paper fluttered to the ground. The writing on it was not as clear or neat as Chloe's but was legible enough the leave a clear reply to the previous letter.

Chloe, you bet!

**Emmerton Hotel, New York, America**

_Cut the cord_

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

Another faint police siren sounded in the distance of the bustling city. Kira's ears picked up on this immediately and she ducked quickly away from the hotel window. With caution she peered her dark blue eyes round the corner of the busted window frame and scanned the dimly lit streets.

No sign of a police car.

"Will you stop panicking already? They're not gonna find us here, and the certainly won't see us through that disgustingly grimy window" Ali quietly scolded from the bed on the other side of the room. Kira hissed at the fellow ex-villainess but sat down herself.

"You know, I'm serious about that window. Someone needs to clean it" she remarked.

"Well, it is not going to be me" Kira mumble before slamming her head down into the not so soft pillow.

_My sign is vital, my hands are cold_

"Hey, K"

No answer.

"Fine Little Miss Stubborn, ignore me, but you get the fact that we have practically lost right?" she sighed, her eyes darting round the shabby hotel room. Wallpaper was peeling down, a thin layer of dust lay on the drawers, odd stains covered the bed sheets (which Ali refused to sleep in, it was a wonder how Kira got her to stay in the room in the first place). Whatever the case, it was nothing like the old circus tent or their old homes. If they had never come across The Seasons they wouldn't have lost.

_And I'm on my knees, looking for the answer_

"We did not lose" Kira muttered stubbornly into her pillow.

"Of course we lost, just look at us! Staying in this filthy hell-hole and running from police all day. We never got our prize, did we? No, we just got screwed around"

"I refuse to say it; we're still alive and going. The Renegades are not dead yet" she nearly yelled in a fury.

For once, Ali stopped to think. She stopped to contemplate what her former team member had just said. No, not former team member. Just team member.

She was right. There were still two of them after all.

"…You're right. So what if Arrow ran off and Troy is out of commission. That just means we'll have to take over!" Ali said triumphantly, grinning as she did so.

"This means, from tomorrow, I promise we won't stay in these filthy rooms any longer. Tomorrow, The Renegades take back the streets!" Kira declared, also grinning.

They both thought together, that they were not going to lie down, give up and live like normal people.

They were so much thicker than that.

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

**The Cave, Rhode Island**

_Give my respects to grace and virtue, send my condolences to good_

Everyone had gathered together in the main hall to give their final wishes and goodbyes to their temporary comrade Flick. They were all dressed in civilian clothing in order the keep the mood happy (so that Flick didn't start to depress about the reason he was here currently). Flick too was dressed in his usual white lab coat with an unusual big grin plastered on his face. Now the nightmare was over, it was finally time for Flick to say goodbye to his temporary friends.

_Give my regards to soul and romance; they always did the best they could_

"So what are you going to do now?" Robin asked the former subject. Though no emotion could be seen behind the shades, concern was evident in his voice. Flick shrugged his shoulders.

"I've met someone. I'm gonna go live with him I guess"

"Aww that's sweet…wait, him?" M'Gann asked confusingly.

Flick glared at her.

"Yeah, a guy. What's wrong with that? My two friends from the lab got together, and they're guys!" he shot at her.

"I'm sure she just meant it was unexpected" Conner said in place for the Martian.

"You stay out of this Supey" Flick hissed.

"HEY!"

"Alright, everyone just calm" Kaldur ushered everyone. Conner did calm but he and the younger boy still exchanged dark looks.

"So…do we get to meet this guy?" Artemis asked.

As if on cue, a young boy who looked a couple of years older than Flick teleported in. Everyone gasped.

"How the hell…" Red Arrow started but was cut off.

"Batman let me in" the stranger answered.

"This is Aleous, or Witch Boy, whatever you prefer" Flick explained. Everyone looked him over. He had dark brown hair, a pair of shining crystal blue eyes and a scar running down his right arm. Aleous gave a small wave. Finally, Zatanna spoke up.

"Well, hello Aleous. I hope you take of Flick for us, because I'm not gonna be able to conjure up anymore bowls of strawberries for him" she said with a small laugh at the end. The others laughed at the last comment as well.

_And so long to devotion, you taught me everything I know_

"So, yeah I'm really gonna miss all of you guys, you were good to me…except Supey, you were useless" Flick said with a snarky tone. Conner growled and threw a punch at Flick…which missed.

"See? I said he was useless"

"I'll show you useless!"

Instantly, a fight broke out between the two. Punches were thrown and ink was splattered. The other's watched from the side-lines.

"He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't like Superboy…" Aleous commented.

"Yeah, we've gotten used to it" Wally commented too with a tone of acceptance.

"You know what though, I'm kinda going to miss this but I wish him all the best with you" Zatanna finished off.

_Wave goodbye, wish me well_

**Dublin Jail, Dublin, Ireland**

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

Lys sat alone, just pondering, in the dimly lit prison cell. She had traded the extravagant red coat a month ago now for a tight fitting orange outfit. She didn't know what had happened to Troy's clothes. Maybe, she hoped, without them her brother would have another tantrum and stay at home instead of going out on another crime spree. She chuckled at the thought. He always used to throw tantrums back at home. Only now would it be funny though. Her pale hands snaked their way up to the inhibitor collar around her neck, preventing any possible use of her powers at this point. No escape hidden by the shadows. Her snaked up further to her shortened coal black locks. She didn't bother touching the cut. She tried to forget about that cut. It was a simple scar gained from a petty sibling fight. That's all it was.

_My sign is vital, my hands are cold_

Lys snapped to attention someone creaked open the door to her cell. However, her tense muscles relaxed as a familiar looking person in a familiar set of clothing sauntered in.

"…You look miserable as usual" a smooth voice purred by the doorway.

"Shut up Rosie…or should I say cross dresser?" Lys replied with a smirk. The visitor, who did happen to be Troy, wasn't impressed in the slightest.

"Hey! It's your freaking fault I have to wear this freaking wig!" he growled. Lys laughed.

"Sit down already"

Unwillingly, Troy did as he was told. Tension built up thickly in the air

_And I'm on my knees, looking for the answer_

"So…why did you come?" The broken hero asked.

"…Because I'm trying to be a good brother. How have you been holding up?"

"Good, no-one messes with me. That Icicle Jr guy's been kinda good to me too" she said wistfully "and you?"

"Yeah, good. The team kinda went off to other places…."

"Did you ever find that Hermes guy?"

"Yeah…"

"Are you going out?"

Troy nodded growled deeply but then nodded grumpily.

"I knew it!" Lys exclaimed happily, clapping. Troy looked at her weirdly.

Silence enveloped them again.

"At least you're happy now…" Lys mumbled, drifting off. Sudden realisation washed over the coal haired twin's face.

Happy…he hadn't been truly happy for a long time, not until she came back…

In those happy moments, he didn't feel like destroying, he didn't feel hurt and he didn't feel like The Ringmaster. He felt…human.

He felt whole.

But only with Lys

He wondered if she felt the same.

Lys gripped tightly to Troy's hand. She never wanted to lose her other half again. He made him whole again. He made her human.

She only wondered if he felt the same.

Two green eyes connected.

They weren't two twins.

They were one.

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

**Blue Hex Detective Agency, Gotham City, America**

_Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight? _

"Well, that's the last box! Blue Hex Detective Agency is open for business!" Jayden announced cheerily and she slammed down the box of junk beside a well-furnished desk "and good timing too, because my arms were starting to hurt" she moaned.

The room probably wasn't the best they could've gotten. One of the windows was badly cracked, the furniture was in odd places and Bruno swore a moment ago he stood in something very sticky in the carpet. The only thing that seemed untouched in the room was the desk, though the nameplate of the previous occupier was still sat on in, collecting dust.

She pulled out the headphones in her ears and started to unpack her books, but she was distracted by Bruno. He too was unpacking some books (of Edgar Allen Poe) but the boy had stopped when he reached what looked like a picture frame. At that moment, he leant back into the chair and just looked at it sadly. Jayden's cheery grin faded.

Bruno jumped as he felt the weight in the couch shift. Her whipped his head round the see Jayden had plopped herself down next to him. She didn't say anything, so he showed her the picture frame. Jayden was able to recognise Bruno in the picture but she couldn't register who the other people were in it.

Then it twigged.

"…That's your family, isn't it?" she asked, but softly. Bruno nodded.

"Yes"

"And you miss them?"

"Of course I do" he sighed.

_There is no message we're receiving, Let me know is your heart still beating?_

Jayden looked at him sympathetically.

She reached her hand out hesitantly. She withdrew it for a second, but breathed in and placed her hand on Bruno's. He looked surprised for a second and looked her in her brown eyes with his own. She mustered up the best sympathetic look she could. Instantly, a smile returned to Bruno's face.

But the moment was broken by the shrill ring of the telephone.

"You're joking? A caller already?" Jayden exclaimed.

"I'll see what it is" The boy sighed, getting up from the chair and shuffling towards the telephone. Jayden waited impatiently and her ex-hero teammate was silent for a few minutes before placing the phone gently back.

"…Looks like Blue Hex have their first case" he too exclaimed.

This time, they both grinned.

**Laker's Café, London, England**

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

Lafayette sighed at the last customer of the day finally took their last sip from their now cold mug of tea and shuffled out the door as the second hand finally ticked round the clock to closing time. As soon as the door slammed shut, Lafayette slammed down the plates on the counter and let out a big sigh of relief. Her nametag clinked against the wood. This had to be the busiest day on record so far for her. Lifting her head, strawberry blonde hair waving, she examined the wreckage the customers had left behind. Several piles of dirty plates, cups and cutlery were stacked on the counter by the sink. She grumbled but kept calm and started work on cleaning them; though with the amount she had she wasn't sure when she was getting home.

"Need a hand with those?"

_My sign is vital, my hand are cold_

Lafayette shifted her glance towards the doorway. To her relief it was Stevie stood there with a faint smile, dressed in her normal clothing.

"I guess…I could use a hand"

Stevie nodded silently and made her way over to the counter. She reached out to grab a few plates but instead her hand brushed gently over Lafayette's arm. The other girl hissed at her friend.

"…Sorry" Stevie mumbled.

"It's okay" Lafayette breathed out. Nothing was said between them for a few moments as they scrubbed the plates in silence. Not until a familiar old voice burst in.

"Ah Stevie! Great to see ya helping out! Ever since Lys decided to get all noble and Burnie and the hyper one had scampered off, I have had such trouble running this place but thanks to you and Laf 'ere taking over it's been great" Jared Laker boomed in a voice that faked cheeriness.

"…Truth be told it's different without that ol' girl" he muttered, sitting down in a chair close to the counter. Sadness swept across his face. Lafayette seemed rather indifferent but she felt the awkwardness when she noticed the same look of Stevie's face. Sometimes she just couldn't understand her.

_And I'm on my knees looking for the answer_

"So, have you seen the other two?" Lafayette mumbled, trying to break the awkwardness.

"I haven't heard from them for a month" the other girl muttered back.

Lafayette thought for a moment about how to cheer her up because her change in mood was becoming difficult for her. Finally, she then came up with something that might offer her new friend some consultation.

"Stevie…"

"Yes?"

"If you want to know how Lys is, I think I can find out"

Hope lit up in Stevie and Jared's face.

"How?"

"Well…I still know the other subjects, and from what I heard from Seether his bro is dating Troy, who is visiting his sis in jail. I guess I could ask him to find out how she's doing…" She explained whilst scrubbing more plates. She was suddenly taken by surprise as she felt someone hugging her from behind.

"Thank you so much" Stevie thanked the older girl with sincerity.

As she watched brown haired girl get back to washing up and the old man get back to his office, she wondered herself about Lys.

Just what possessed her to save them in the first place? And why did she never give up?

_You've got to let me know_

**London Adoption Agency, London, England**

_Are we human? Or are we denser?_

Riley waited rather impatiently in the waiting room of the adoption agency. He was clinging strongly to Seether's arm. The wolf boy rolled his dark eyes and placed a hand on the Brit's head.

"Chill out Red, we only need to wait a little longer" he assured him. The redhead pouted at the comment.

"But I can't wait any longer, I've been waiting for ages!" he whined, squirming in his seat. The redhead continued to pout and whine until Seether gave up and-gently-crushed his lips onto his partner's. It lasted only a few seconds before he pulled away. Riley uttered a quiet 'squeak' then stopped talking all together.

"Thought that would shut you up for a minute"

_My sign is vital, my hands are cold_

Shortly after the wolf boy was able to shut up the younger male, the two were finally called in to receive what they had anxiously and patiently (in Seether's case at least) been waiting for the moment their freedom had been given to them. The two quietly and carefully followed a young lady that had come to get them into a clean looking room.

Inside the room was what they came here before. By a table was a pale blue cot. Riley dragged Seether over, and the two of them peered inside. There lay a young baby, maybe only a few months old, wrapped in several layers of minty green blankets. She wasn't particularly big, with quite a frail structure and pale skin. On her head was a small crop of light brown hair, though a few messy strands hung over her eyes. Her eyes were the most outstanding part. They were a shade of green that shone like jewels, and held an essence of innocence and strength at the same time. Riley and Seether stood in awe.

"…She's so beautiful" Riley managed to choke out through happy sobs. Seether hugged him tightly and gazed upon their new child.

"She certainly is beautiful" he agreed.

And after several minutes of paperwork and final discussions, she was finally theirs.

_And I'm on my knees, looking for the answer_

The first time Riley held her, his heart melted in an instant. He held her as close to his chest as possible, whispering soothing and loving words. Seether watched her with his protective eyes from over the redheads shoulder.

"Oh my beautiful…um…my…uh…"

Riley blanked.

"…We didn't think of a name for her yet did we?" the wolf boy commented. Riley slowly turned to him and laughed nervously.

"Um…what…what should we name h…her?" The redhead stuttered awkwardly

The two men pondered for a moment. Then, unexpectedly Seether muttered something.

"Jade"

"Jade? That's pretty, but why".

"Look at her eyes"

Jade looked up at them and giggled. The light twinkled off her eyes; her strong, green eyes.

"You're right, it's perfect" he whispered softly "…do you want to hold her?" he asked quietly. Seether looked surprised at first but nodded. With the utmost care, Riley handed her over. As soon as he received her, he felt the same joy as Riley did. Just looking at her innocence, he almost felt…normal. He felt…human.

And as she laughed, Riley laughed, and so did Seether.

All at once, the world was innocent again.

_Are we human, or are we denser?_


	16. Just A Note

**Just a note, since I am going on holiday for a week the plans for the sequel will be put on hold until further notice (because I will have no access to my laptop) but don't worry because I will continue with it when I get back!**


	17. Just to tell you guys

**Just to tell you guys, the preview for the sequel is now up!**


End file.
